Two Marshals and a Baby
by Jayne Leigh
Summary: Mary decides to keep the baby and has Marshall around to help her. This is a look at the speical relationship between Jessica Shannon and her Uncle Marshall.
1. Chapter 1

**This is set after the final of s4. I hope you like it. Please review and let me know what you think! **

**Two Marshals and a Baby**

"Can I hold her?"

Mary looked up at her partner and rolled her eyes. "You don't need to ask."

"You gave your Mother a ten minute lecture on how she was not doll earlier." Marshall replied, as he carefully picked up Mary's daughter from the hospital portable crib.

"She woke her up after I spent almost 30 minutes trying to get her to sleep." Mary shot back. "Besides, you're different."

Marshall looked up from the baby to his partner but did not comment. It had been five days since Mary went into labor at Brandi's wedding and although Mother and baby were both healthy, the doctor wanted to keep them in hospital as precaution. Marshall shuddered slightly as he thought about that day. All the drama at the courthouse, how his main concern was getting Mary out safely when it should have been about the witness. Then when she had been rushed to hospital, he was so relieved that she insisted he stay by her side the whole time; neither of them giving Mark or Abigail a second thought. That night, he sat by her bedside and watched her cradling her daughter; bonding with her and even though, she had not said it out loud, he knew she was going to keep her.

"So, where's Mark?" Marshall questioned. "I haven't seen him around much the last couple of days."

"He went home…I guess he only wanted to supportive when he thought all he had to do with sign his rights away."

Marshall sighed and sat down on the edge of her bed. "I'm sorry, Mare."

She shrugged and leaned closer to look at her daughter, smiling slightly. "He says he wants to be involved and help out with money but whether he does or not…We don't need him."

Mary settled back again and just watched her partner as he stared down at the baby. When Mark had first said he was heading home, she thought it was because he was upset that she picked Marshall over him but he admitted he was more than relieved that she did not want him in the delivery room. While he was happy that both of them were okay, he was not sure how to be a Father and was glad they had Marshall around.

Marshall had kept his word to stay throughout and although he had to go to work for a few hours during the day, the rest of the time he was there with her or off getting her whatever she needed.

"Abigail can't be happy…" Mary said, carefully. "What with you spending all your time here..."

"You could say that…" Marshall replied.

"Marshall…"

"What do you want me to say?" He turned to face her. "We broke up…It happens."

"You just brought a house together."

He shrugged. "She's transferring and I need somewhere to live so it's a pretty simple solution."

"You're going to live in that big house all by yourself?"

"Well, I figured this one might need a room of her own in case I'm on babysitting duty."

"Hey, be careful what you offer…I might drop her off one night and then not pick her up until she's 18."

Marshall let out a small laugh and moved up on the bed so he could lean back against the pillows, next to Mary.

"I really am sorry about Abby." Mary said softly. "I know you liked her."

"I did." Marshall replied quietly. "But I guess it's for the best."

"Well, at least we still got each other." She led her head on his shoulder.

"And baby girl Shannon." Marshall added. "Speaking of which, decided on any names?"

"Actually, I wanted to talk to you about that…" Mary started. "With the adoption and all, I had not really been thinking of names then all that stuff happened with Grace and her baby…I mean, Leonard? Seriously? It's 2011 for god sake…"

"Mare." Marshall gave her a look, telling her to get on with it before moving his eyes back down to the baby.

"Right, anyway, I was talking to Delia about it and she said maybe they named him Leonard after someone and it got me thinking, who I'd want to name my baby after…Really there is only one person." She told him. "But to be honest, Marshall doesn't really suit her."

He looked up at her again in surprise but she kept talking.

"Plus how would I introduce myself? Hi, I'm Marshal Mary Shannon and this is my partner Marshal Marshall Mann…I have a daughter Marshall Shannon…blah blah blah…" She waved her hand around. "Too many Marshals…Too many Ms…"

"Mary?" He cut in again.

"Sorry, anyway I want you to name her."

"What?"

"I want you to pick out her name…Well, names actually because she'll need a middle name too, I guess." She told him.

"You want me to name your daughter?" He stared at her.

"I wanted to name her after the most important person in my life but that won't work so I want the most important person in my life to name her."

"What about Mark?"

"That's kind of a guy's name, don't you think?"

"Mary…"

"He shared no desire to name her before he ran out of here so he doesn't matter." She replied. "Besides, you are probably going to be the only good male role model in her life…actually; you'll probably be the only good role model in her life, period."

"But Mary, this is huge…This is your daughter's name..."

"Yes and I decided I want you to choose it…I trust you." She told him. "But don't you dare pick something like Princess Leia or Daffodil…"

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, Marshall." She insisted. "I know, I just dropped this on you so I don't need a name tonight…"

"Jessica."

"What?"

"Jessica…" He repeated. "Jessica Mia Shannon."

"Mia?" Mary repeated, tears stinging her eyes at the mention of the name.

"Yeah, what do you think?" He asked, hesitantly.

"Jessica Mia." She whispered, looking at her daughter. "It suits her."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah…" She smiled when Jessica yawned and closed her eyes. "So, I get where Mia came from but what about Jessica? Does it hold some kind of historical meaning that I'm going to regret asking about?"

"It was my Grandmother's name." He replied. "You said you wanted to name her after someone who was important…She was important to me. I always wanted to name my daughter Jessica if I ever had one."

More tears filled her eyes. "Damn hormones!"

"Here." He handed her a box of tissues.

"What happens if you do have your own daughter in the future?"

"Then I'll name her Princess Leia or daffodil…" He joked.

"I'm serious."

"Mare, no matter what happens this little girl is always going to mean something to me…I might only be 'Uncle Marshall' but I'm always going to be there for her…I'm always going to love her." He assured her. "No matter what."

"I want you to be her God Father." She told him.

"I'd be honored." He smiled at her.

"Is she asleep?" Mary questioned.

"Yeah, I think so."

"Good…" Mary looked at him and then to the crib, biting her lip, gently.

Marshall looked at her for a few seconds. "You want me to put her in her crib, don't you?"

"She's not a doll!"

He sighed and rolled his eyes. Carefully standing up, he carried Jessica over to the portable crib. He kissed her forehead softly before gently laying her down. "Sweet dreams, Miss Jessie."

"A nickname all ready?"

He shrugged and dropped down in to the chair beside the bed. "By the way, the name Jessica has no meaning and is thought to have been invented by William Shakespeare…For the daughter of Shylock during the play 'The Merchant of Venice'… "

"Oh god…" She groaned.

Marshall grinned and caught the pillow she sent flying at him then placed it behind his head before continuing. "Famous bearers of the name include Jessica Simpson, Jessica Lang and Jessica Alba, also fictional character Jessica Rabbit…"

**Possible TBC**

**Please let me know what you think and If it's worth continuing! **


	2. Chapter 2

_**Thanks for the reviews! Glad you liked it! Please keep them coming! **_

_**Enjoy! **_

_**Two Marshals and a Baby**_

"We don't even need to go out…"

"Brandi, I told you, I'm not in the mood." Mary sighed. "As soon as I've bathed and put Jessica to bed, I'm going to do the same…"

"You need a break from being Marshal Shannon and Mom." Brandi folded her arms across her chest. As soon as she heard about Mary going into labor, she headed straight back to Albuquerque. She loved her niece to bits but for the past six months all Mary had done was looking after the baby and work.

Mary rolled her eyes. "You don't get a break from being a Mom."

"Come on, a DVD night and a takeaway?"

"I appreciate it; Squish but I won't be any fun…" Mary started but frowned when she heard the front door open and the close.

"Hey." Marshall appeared.

Jessica squealed and held her arms out to him.

"Hey." Mary replied, watching he scooped her out of the highchair and then carried her down the hall towards the nursery, talking to her as she babbled away to him.

"We could go out and get dinner." Brandi suggested, gaining Mary's attention again.

"Brandi, seriously…I cannot go out with you tonight…" She started moving around the kitchen to clean up. "I know you've had a rough year and you're finally getting back to normal, whatever that is for you but I can't just drop everything."

"Mary…" Brandi started as Marshall reappeared with Jessica still in his arms but she was now wearing her coat and he had her diaper bag slung over his shoulder.

"Maybe next week, we can set aside a night…" Mary continued, not noticing her partner.

"Give Mama a kiss." Marshall held Jessica towards Mary, who automatically kissed her daughter. He then turned and left the kitchen, giving Brandi a smile on his way out.

"We can watch whatever chick flick you like…" Mary stopped suddenly when she realized Marshall had just left the house with her daughter.

"So, you won't let me feed her without supervision but you let Marshall walk in here and just take her without a word?" Brandi asked, amused at the scene she just witnessed.

Mary dropped the plate that was in her hand and ran towards the door to see Marshall strapping Jessica into the car seat in the back of his truck. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

"Jessie and I are going to hang out while you have a night off."

"You can't just walk into my house and take my daughter!"

Marshall looked down at Jessica before back to Mary, grinning. "I just did."

"Marshall!"

"Mare, Brandi is right…You need a night off." He told her. "So, I'm going to take Jessica over to my place for the night while you do whatever you want."

"What the hell?" She looked back at her sister, who stood on the porch, watching. "You called Marshall?"

"She was worried about you and anyway, she didn't need to…" Marshall cut in before Brandi had chance to speak. "Mare, you're doing too much and I know if anyone can handle being a US Marshal and a full time Mom then it's you but it doesn't mean you have to do it alone."

"It also doesn't mean you have the right to come into my house and kidnap my daughter." She glared at him.

Marshall rolled his eyes. "Oh please, like you would admit you needed a night off."

"I don't need a night off…"

"Alright, how about we just say I want to spend a night with my Goddaughter."

"Don't try and patronize me…"

"Come on, Mare… She's got her own room at my place and has only spent one night there." He pleaded. "And last time I had her, I hadn't finished decorating…"

"Marshall…"

"My house is so big and I'm all alone…"

"Fine, fine!" She threw her hand up in defeat.

Marshall grinned widely and looked down at Jessica, who automatically smiled back. "Hear that, Miss Jessie…You get to spend the night at Uncle Marshall's!"

She babbled something incoherent before shoving her stuffed bear into her mouth.

"That means, she's every excited." Marshall translated when he looked back at his partner.

"Uh-huh…I never thought you would result to playing the lonely card."

"Sometimes you got to fight dirty." He shrugged. "But honestly, Mare… I do love spending time with her…I'm not just doing it so you can have a night off."

She sighed and looked down at her daughter. Jessica absolutely adored her Uncle Marshall and Mary often wished that he was her Father instead of Mark, since he was pretty much the closes thing to a Dad that she had.

"I know…" She gave him a small smile. "Do you have everything you need?"

"Of course."

After Mary had decided to keep the baby, Marshall had gone shopping to get everything she would need when she left the hospital and he pretty much brought two of everything so he would have it all at his place too. He had no idea what kind of father Mark would end up being but he was determined that if he didn't step up to the role then he would do himself.

"Okay, well I guess I'll see you tomorrow…" Mary leaned down and kissed Jessica forehead. "Feel free to keep Uncle Marshall up all night."

Jessica squealed and laughed as if she understood what her Mother had said.

"She wouldn't do that…She's my little Angel."

"She has you wrapped around her little finger."

"Probably more like all ten fingers." Marshall admitted.

"God, you are so screwed when she's older…She'll be able to talk you into anything." Mary replied and then paused. "So, you sure you want to do this? I mean, I can come pick her up in a couple of hours."

She had only spent one night away from her daughter and that was when she had to go out of town on a witness transfer when Jessica was two months old. She had only agreed to it since Marshall offered to stay behind and take care of her. A year ago she would have demanded that he be by her side during any case but now she would much rather he be with Jessica if she couldn't.

"In a couple of hours, she'll be fast asleep in her new bedroom." Marshall stated and reached out to squeeze her shoulder. "We'll be fine…Just try and relax."

"Relax? What's that?" She joked, half heartily.

He gave her small smile before looking past her to her sister. "Brandi, you're in charge in making sure she doesn't sneak over to my place to spy on us."

"I didn't even think about that, until now…." Mary muttered.

"How am I meant to do that?" Brandi asked, a look of panic crossed her face has she walked over to them.

"A six pack of beer, a large meat feast pizza and the Diehard box-set." He advised.

"Oh, you know me so well…"

"Okay, I can do that." Brandi said with more confidence then she felt.

"Right, well I'm going to get going before you change your mind." Marshall got into the truck.

"I'll see you tomorrow then…" Mary looked at Jessica one more time, who was happily playing with her bear. "Call me if you need anything."

"We'll be fine." Marshall assured her. "Why don't you come by around midday and the three of us can have lunch together."

"Okay, sure." She nodded, folding her arms in an attempt not to pull open the car's back door and grab Jessica. "I'll see you then."

Mary waited until his truck disappeared before turning to her sister.

"I can't believe you called Marshall."

"I knew you wouldn't listen to me." She replied. "Besides, he wanted to spend time with Jessica anyway…Are you sure he's not her real Dad?"

Mary just rolled her eyes and headed back inside the house.

"Have you even heard from Mark?" Brandi questioned.

"He's called about three since she was born." Mary informed her. "It's him that missing out because she doesn't need him."

"No, she has Marshall."

"Brandi…"

"It's not a bad thing." She held her hands up in defense. "I'm just saying, I wish we had an uncle like him when we were growing."

"Well, Marshall is definitely not like any of the uncles we had...For one, they were all only one thing and that was Mom…Marshall's my best friend and he's Jessica's God Father for a reason."

"Okay, okay…I was just saying." Brandi picked up the phone. "I'll order a pizza while you shower…you got a little baby puke on you."

Mary looked down at her shirt and groaned.

**XxXxX**

The next day, Mary let herself into the Marshall's house with the key he had given her when he had first moved it. She never even dreamed about using until Abigail had left. She knew the younger woman would not have liked it because she remembered Raphael's reaction when he found out Marshall had a key to her house.

"Marshall?" She called out but got no answer.

Despite her reluctance to be away from her daughter last night, Mary actually found herself enjoying the night off. Brandi stayed until the movie was over and all the pizza was gone. Then she had got an early night and slept in the late. She spent the few spare hours this morning doing a few chores that she struggled to get done with Jessica around but now she missed her daughter.

She walked into the kitchen and finally spotted them in the backyard sat on a blanket spread out on the grass. She stood by the window and watched them for a few minutes.

Jessica was sat, propped up with a pillow behind her while Marshall was stretched out next her. He had a flower in his hand, holding it out for her as she inspected it curiously.  
>She pulled on one of the petals and looked at Marshall in shock when it broke off from the flower. She then looked at it more closely before trying to put it in her mouth but Marshall quickly stopped her. Jessica frowned at him, disappointingly and Mary could tell her daughter she was trying to decide if she should cry or not when Marshall tickled under her chin with the flower. Mary laughed when Jessica squealed and giggled, squirming away from Marshall.<p>

Marshall looked up and smiled when he noticed her stood at the window. She raised her hand in a silent greeting before moving to the door to go out and join them.

"Look, Jessie…Mama here." He pointed at her.

Jessica babbled and held her arms out to Mary.

"Hey, so this is where the party is…" Mary sat down on the blanket and pulled Jessica onto her lap.

"Yeah, I thought we would have a picnic." Marshall replied, reaching behind him for the food he had prepared earlier. "Did you enjoy your night?"

"I did…" She answered as she lifted Jessica up and turned her to face her. "Did you behave for Uncle Marshall?"

"Of course she did…a perfect little Angel."

"Good, glad you had fun."

Marshall watched her for a few seconds. "What is it?"

"Hmm?"

"You're being nice to me…What's happened?"

"What? You're my best friend and just babysat my daughter for the night then made me lunch…You think I can't return the favor and be nice to you?"

Marshall didn't answer, instead kept looking at her.

"Alright, fine….I got a phone call this morning."

"From who?"

"Mark." She told him and she saw him tense slightly. "He wants to come down and see Jessica next week."

"Really? Well, that's great…" Marshall replied but turned away, pretending to reach for the cans of soda had brought out.

"Marshall…" She sighed, she had noticed the hurt flash in his eyes. "I'm sorry."

He looked back at her and frowned. "What for?"

"I don't know…" She shrugged. "For agreeing that he can see Jessica…"

"Mare, he is her Father." Marshall stated. "He has every right to see her…You have nothing to apologize for."

Mary knew he was right in theory but the truth was that Marshall had been there since the day Jessica was born. He had been her Dad and now Mark deciding he actually did want a role in her life was going to interfere with the little dysfunctional family they had created.

"Nothing is going to change…I'm not going to stop being around because he is." Marshall assured her. "I'm still her Uncle Marshall and God Father…Okay?"

"I just don't want her getting hurt…I don't want her to always be wondering when Daddy's going turn up again."

Marshall reached out and squeezed her hand. "She'll be fine… She's tough…Like her Mom."

Mary smiled softly at him and then both looked down at the same time to see Jessica putting the flower into her mouth.

Marshall sighed and shook his head. "She has your appetite too…"

_**TBC**_

_**Please review!**_


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey, thanks for the reviews! Please keep them coming! Sorry it's taken so long to update. My laptop has died on me so I'm sharing one until I can get a new one. Please stay with me! Thanks for reading.**

**Enjoy! **

**Two Marshalls and a Baby**

"Good morning," Stan called out as he entered the office but he looked from the folder in his hands when he did not get a response. First, he looked at Marshall, who was sat, typing away at his computer; if it wasn't for the silence then he would not have thought there was anything wrong. He then turned to Mary, who opened her desk draw forcibly then slammed it shut before shooting her partner a glare.

"Delia?" Stan called the young woman over when he spotted her watching the scene from behind some paperwork. She rushed to his side and Stan nodded his head in his senior inspectors' direction. "What's with them?"

"Well, they seem to be giving each other the silent treatment now." Delia whispered. "When Marshall arrived this morning, he brought her a coffee as some kind of peace offering but she poured it away in the plant pot…After several attempts to get her to talk, he gave up and declared a silent war…Which seemed to irate her more and she's been slamming and throwing things since."

Stan looked back over to his inspectors and saw Marshall's eyes were still on the computer but Mary was glaring at them, knowing that they were talking about her.

"Alright, out with it." Stan said loudly, gaining Marshall's attention too. "What's wrong with the two of you?"

They both looked at each other before turning back to Stan and immediately started to tell their side of the story at the same time, raising their voices to be heard over each other as they stood up and walked over to him.

"Stop!" Stan yelled and they both fell silent again. "One at a time…Marshall, you go."

"She's being unreasonable and acting like a child!"

"_She's being unreasonable and acting like a child!" _Mary mimicked, mockingly.

"See!" Marshall said in frustration, gesturing in his partner's direction.

"Mary, what's going on?" Stan asked massaging his temples.

"She said his name."

Stan looked back to Marshal who sighed and looked at the floor but stayed silent.

"I'm sorry."

"She said his name… The first time she says a full word and it's his name!" Mary threw her hands in the air and started to pace around. "Not Mom…or even Ma…but Marshall…"

"Mare…" Marshall tried to cut in but she kept talking.

"She didn't even break it up…Marshall...clear as day…not even Marsh…or Shell…oh no, Marshall!"

"Mare, I'm sorry but you can't blame me for it." Marshall stepped in front of her to stop her from pacing.

"I'm her Mother and she won't say my name." She folded her arms across her chest. "You and your mind games…"

"Mind games?" Marshall repeated. "You think I planned it?"

Mary gave him a 'duh' look before continuing her pacing.

Stan looked the between the two of them. Marshall looked like he had been slapped in the face but Mary was oblivious.

"I said I would check in on the Thompsons…" Marshall moved over to his desk grabbing his badge and gun. "I'll see you later."

Mary stopped and watched him leave, frowning a little at his behavior.

"Y'know, when my sister's boy was a baby, they used to have this dog…a little thing was always jumping on everyone and everything so they were always shouting at him to get back outside." Stan started and Mary turned around, wondering where he was going with the story. "Anyway, when he was a little older, they were in the park and he saw a dog…and he started shouting 'out' at it."

"Stan…"

"The point is, Mary…" Stan stopped her from cutting him off. "He had been watching and listening every time they told that dog to get out…and he thought that's what you said when you saw a dog."

Mary sighed. "I just…she's my daughter and I've been waiting for her first words…"

"And she says Marshall…your best friend, the one that spends so much time with the two of you…possibly the one person, you're always happy to see…Maybe she was just copying her Mom."

Mary looked towards the elevator, what her partner had disappeared into. Suddenly, feeling bad for taking her disappointment out on him.

"Well, I guess I could have handled that a bit better." She rubbed her forehead. She did not really blame Marshall and never wanted to upset him.

"Just talking to him…He'll understand." Stan smiled before turning and going into his office.

**xXxXx**

Mary glanced at the clock as she cleaned up the kitchen. It was almost 6pm and she was hoping Marshall would turn up before she put Jessica to bed. The day had turned out a little more hectic as time went on and they kept missing each other. So, she left him a message inviting him over to make up for acting crazy today.

She grabbed Jessica out of her highchair and carried her over to the couch just as there was light knock on the door. A second later, it opened and Marshall stepped into the house.

"Hey, I got your message…" He said, cautiously but couldn't help but smile when Jessica squealed and reached her arms out to him. "You wanted to talk?"

"Yeah but first you're on storytelling duty." She stood up and handed Jessica to him.

Jessica babbled and bounced a little in his arms.

"Go on, she's all excited to have her Uncle Marshall put her to bed." Mary nodded in the direction of the bedrooms. "I'll order us a pizza?"

"Okay, great…" Marshall smiled and held Jessica out, so Mary could give her a kiss goodnight.

Mary rolled her eyes as she heard him, start telling Jessica about the hummingbird as he carried her into her bedroom. After she ordered their pizza and doubled checked, there was beer in the fridge, she wondered around, picking up a few thing and putting them back in the rightful place. She could not work out why babies needed some much stuff and how it always ended up scattered around everywhere.

Once that was done, she went to see what was taking Marshall so long. She stopped in the doorway when she heard the one sided conversation.

"Come on, Princess…Mama…I know you can say it," Marshall said softly. He sat beside Jessica crib and she was at up, looking at him through the bars. "You would make your Mom's day if you said…hell, you'll probably make her year…I know, you made mine, when you said Marshall."

"Marshall?" Jessica copied, pushing her fingers through the bar to touch his face.

He sighed and kissed her fingers, causing her to giggle.

"Okay, how about you say 'mama' so your Mom stops being mad at me?" Marshall suggested.

"I'm not mad at you." Mary said, startling him. "You're meant to be telling her a story, not giving her a speech lesson."

"We were just talking." Marshall shrugged, watching as she pushed herself away from the doorframe and walked over to join him on the floor. "I'm sorry, Mare…I never wanted to take her first words away from you."

"It's okay, I'm not mad at you." Mary tried to assure him.

"If you think I'm too close then I'll back off…"

"Don't you dare!" She glared at him. "We like having you around… we need you and if you stopped coming over, you would break her heart."

They both turned and looked at Jessica, who wasn't pay them any attention and instead was playing with a teddy bear that wore a t-shirt with a Marshal star on it.

"She loves you…you can see it, every time you walk into the room." Mary said softly. "I don't know what I did to deserve to have a best friend like you, who has stuck by me through so much and who is willing to play such a big role in my daughter's life….I'll never be able to thank you enough for it…"

"You don't need to thank me…I love her too…and you…God, Mare…I would do anything for either of you, you know that." He frowned a little; it wasn't like her to like this.

"I know, I know…" She gave him a small smile. "If I was going to have a one night-stand with anyone and end up pregnant, why couldn't it be with you?"

He's eyes widened in surprise and his mouth fell open. She couldn't help but laugh a little at the look on his face.

"Relax, cowboy…I just meant, Jessica…She deserves to have a Dad like you."

"Mare…"

"I know Mark tries but visiting three times a year is not enough…" She continued. "She doesn't know him and how does he expect to get to know her?"

Marshall turned his eyes back to Jessica, who looked back and grinned at him.

"One day, she's going to realize all her friends have a Dad who they love and idolize and this crazy fun Uncle…Whereas she has an Uncle... who she loves and idolizes with all her heart and a Dad who only shows up for the good times."

Marshall turned back to Mary and reached out to take her hand. "We'll work it out."

"I know." She nodded, with a small smile.

They both silently watched Jessica for the next ten minutes until they heard the doorbell ringing.

Mary used him, to push herself up. "You got ten minutes to get her sleep or I'm eating your half of the pizza."

Marshall rolled his eyes and chuckled lightly before standing up and looked down at his goddaughter.

"Okay, Miss Jessie…It's way past your bedtime."

"Marshall…"

"Come on…" He leant down and picked her up, holding her closely to his chest. "Tomorrow, we'll practice more of your talking…"

"Marshall…"

"Yeah, that's me…Uncle Marshall." He swayed gently, glancing down at her when she placed her head on his chest and put her thumb in her mouth. "But tomorrow we're going to learn how to say Mama or maybe Doofus, she'll appreciate that…"

"Doof?"

He sighed, shaking his head. "I shouldn't have said anything…Mama will never let me live it down if that's your next word."

"Ma?"

"Hey, that's it…Mama…" He looked down at her again. "Mama."

"Ma…ma." She babbled.

"That's my girl." He kissed the top of her head. He wanted to call Mary but knew if he did then, with all the excitement, they probably would not get Jessica to sleep anytime soon. "Remember that for tomorrow and we'll surprise mama."

"Marshall?"

"Yeah, me, you and Mama." He assured her.

"Mama…Doof."

"I swear, kid, if you start calling me Doofus, then there's going to trouble." He joked lightly.

"Dada…"

He froze and looked down to see her staring up at him. "Uncle Marshall…"

"Mama…"

He rubbed her back gently and she settled back down on his chest.

"Dada…" She said again with a sleepily sigh.

Marshall closed his eyes, feeling tears start appeared. He kissed the top of her head again and held her a little tighter.

"Yeah, princess…I'm here." He whispered, softly.

**TBC**

**Please review! **


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey, thanks for all the reviews and story alerts! Please keep them coming! Sorry it's taken a while to update. Please review! **

**Enjoy!**

**Two Marshals and a Baby**

"Okay, bath time is done." Mary said as she finished putting Jessica into her PJs. "Now time for a story."

"Uncle Marshall reads me two stories."

"Uncle Marshall isn't here." Mary replied, determined not to get sucked into negotiations with her three year old daughter…again.

"And he sings me a song."

"Two stories but no song." Mary compromised but knew she would probably be asleep by the end of the first story.

"Okay." Jessica grinned as Mary's cell buzzed.

"You picked a book and I'll be right back." Mary told her as she stepped out into the hallway. "Shannon."

"Mary?"

"Hey, Stan…What's up?"

"It's Marshall…"

"What?" Mary felt her heart stop.

"He's going to be okay but he's a bit banged up." Stan added quickly. "He said he was planning on stopping by on his way home and he didn't want you to worry…"

"What happened?" Mary cut in, moving further down the hall so Jessica did not over hear.

"Tommy Hillman." Stan sighed. "He's back to his old tricks."

Tommy Hillman was Marshall's witness and had to enter witness protection after seeing a murder taking place in a nightclub back in New York City. The problem was, he was a 22 year old guy, who liked to party hard and the reason he was in the corridor where the murder took place was because he was looking for somewhere to shoot up.

Part of the deal along with protection, was a promise to help him get clean of drugs but about three months ago, Marshall had expected he had relapsed. Tommy denied it and Marshall could not find any evidence so settled on keeping a closer eye on him.

"Stan, what exactly happened?" She asked. "How banged up is he?"

"Tommy was high as a kite when we got there; threatening to jump out of his apartment's window and Marshall managed to talk him down." Stan explained. "We made a few phone calls and arranged for him to see a doctor…We were on our way out when he flipped again, started saying he didn't want to go.. We tried to restrain him but he hit Marshall…he stumbled and went head first down the stairs."

Mary winced, she had been to Tommy's apartment block many times and knew the staircase were concrete. "How bad?"

"Doctor is with him now, he was unconscious for a good 10 minutes or so but he woke up before they put him in the ambulance."

"Jesus…"

"He was groggy but he was with it enough to tell me to call you." Stan tried to assure her.

"And Tommy?"

"Sleeping it off at ABQPD…After that it'll either be rehab, new location or out of the program."

"MOM!" Jessica shouted from her room, obliviously getting impatient.

Stan chuckled when he heard her. "Listen, they're probably not going to let him out of here tonight...So, go put your daughter to bed and I'll keep you updated."

"I should be there."

"Mom!"

"Mary, he's fine…just took a knock, that's all." Stan told her. "He wouldn't want you rushing to his side and leaving Jessica…I'll give you a call in an hour or so."

"You better." Mary snapped the phone and walked down the hall. She paused outside her daughter's room to take a deep breath before entering.

"I got three books… but two are really short." Jessica told her, sat up in her bed.

Mary just stared at her for a few seconds deep in thought but then shook her head slightly.

"We'll take them with us." She announced and reached underneath the bed to grab the bunny slippers that Marshall had brought her. "Come on, we're going to find Uncle Marshall…"

"Yay!" Jessica threw off the covers and sat on the edge of the bed, shoving her feet into the slippers.

Mary lifted her off the bed and carried her into the hallway, deciding to just put Jessica's coat on over the top of her pajamas.

"Are we going to Uncle Marshall's house?" Jessica asked, when Mary placed her on the floor and helped her put on her coat.

"Nope, Uncle Marshall and Stan have got themselves into a bit of trouble." Mary replied. "We're going to have to go look from them."

"Oh no." Jessica gasped dramatically. "Are you going to shout at them?"

"I might." Mary couldn't help but smile at the concerned look on her daughter's face.

"Poor uncle Marshall."

_**XxXxX**_

"Stan?"

"Mary, I told you stay put." Stan sighed as he turned away from the coffee machine and saw his Inspector walking towards him with her daughter in her arms.

"Did you think that was really going to happen?" Mary rolled her eyes. "Where is he?"

"I'm still waiting to hear."

"I thought we were coming to find Uncle Marshall…" Jessica whispered, looking around.

"We are." Mary placed her down on the row of seat. "I need you to stay here with Stan while I go find him."

"I want to see him to!" Jessica pouted and crossed her arms.

"I know but someone needs to stay here and keep an eye on Stan."

Stan raised an eyebrow but did not comment.

"Okay." Jessica sighed loudly.

"I'll be right back." Mary glanced at Stan before heading towards the nurses' desk.

"You okay, kiddo?" Stan asked, sitting beside Jessica.

"Mom's going to shout at Uncle Marshall." She whispered.

Stan laughed a little. "I'm sure she won't."

"Yeah-huh…she said that you and him got into some trouble."

"Why are you whispering?" Stan questioned but couldn't help but whisper himself.

"Mom said we have to quiet because we're in a hospital where people are sick." She told him quietly and then frowned. "Is Uncle Marshall sick?"

Stan looked down the corridor in hope that Mary would come back so he wouldn't have to answer but there was no sign of her and Jessica had tears already in her eyes.

"No, honey…He'll be fine." Stan put an arm around her awkwardly. "He bumped his head but your Uncle Marshall is strong and brave, he'll be okay."

"I hit my head on the table last week." Jessica sniffed. "It really hurt."

"I bet it did."

"And I cried and Uncle Marshall kissed it better and gave me a lollipop but we weren't allowed to tell Mom because it was before dinner." She continued and Stan smiled. "Did Uncle Marshall cry too?"

Before Stan could reply, Mary walked back over to them and Jessica jumped off the chair. "Mom, I want to get Uncle Marshall a lollipop so he feels better."

"Oh, okay we'll bring him one tomorrow." Mary replied a little surprised by the request but there were lots things that both Jessica and Marshall said, that she didn't quite understand.

"Did you find anything out?" Stan asked.

"They're sending someone out to speak to us."

"Did you threaten anyone?" He questioned. "Do I need to smooth anything over?"

She rolled her eyes. "I was nice."

"If you say so…"

"Here comes the doctor now." Mary looked past him, towards the man heading towards them.

"Are you here from Inspector Mann?" He asked.

"Yes, I'm his boss and this is his partner." Stan replied.

"And I'm Jessica…he's my Uncle." Jessica added before anyone could say anything.

The doctor looked down at her and chuckled lightly. "Well, it's nice to meet you Jessica…"

"How's Marshall?" Mary asked impatiently, resting her hands on Jessica's shoulders, gently.

"His right wrist is fractured and will need to be put in a cast. He's also suffered broken a rib and cracked three others." He informed them. "We had to stitch a laceration on the side of his head and he has a mild concussion but he's going to be fine…"

"Thank god…" Mary sighed.

"He'll be in cast for at least six weeks and will be sore for a few days but as long as there is someone stays with him, he will be released in the morning."

"Thank you, Doctor." Stan said before looking at Mary. "I told you there was nothing to worry about."

"Mom, I want to see Uncle Marshall." Jessica spoke before she had chance to reply.

"Can we see him?" Mary asked the doctor.

"Only for a little while but he needs some rest and visiting hours are over." The doctor replied. "I'll ask a nurse to show you to his room once he's settled."

"Thank you." Stan repeated as the doctor walked away.

"Can you watch Jessica for me again?"

"Where are you going?" Stan frowned.

"To call Brandi to come pick her up." Mary replied. "She can't stay here all night and I'm not leaving."

"Mary, relax…This is nothing." Stan tried to assure her. "They're probably only keeping him in because it's coming up to 10 at night…"

"Stan…"

"You know he'll tell you to take Jessica home." Stan continued. "He's fine, Mary…A little banged up but he's been a lot worse off."

"I know but…"

"No buts…no arguing." Stan interrupted her. "You will go and see him…Tell him you're glad he's okay but then you're going home."

"Oh really?" She raised an eyebrow at him challenging.

"You want to go there?" Stan stepped up to the challenge.

"I do." She replied, wondering what his plan was.

"Okay…" Stan crouched down in front of her daughter. "Hey, Jessica…I need you to do me a huge favor."

"Stan!" Mary shot him a warning look.

"Sure!" Jessica grinned widely.

"I want you to tell Uncle Marshall that your Mom is planning on staying with him tonight…"

"No fair!" Jessica looked up at her. "I want to stay too."

"You get to have a sleep over at Aunt Brandi's."

"Uncle Marshall is more fun." She crossed her arms and pouted. "He sings to me."

"Now look what you've done." Mary glared at Stan and threw her hands in the air.

"I didn't know she would react like this." Stan stood up. "I just wanted her to tell Marshall what you were up to."

Mary sighed and turned Jessica around to face her. "Uncle Marshall is going to be going to sleep very soon but you can go and say goodnight to him and then tomorrow he'll come to our house."

"Why is he going to sleeping?" She asked, frowning.

"Because he's not feeling very well and is tired." Mary explained. "Tomorrow when he comes over…You can look after him and make sure he gets better."

"Who's going to look after him tonight?"

"The doctors and me."

"But…but…"

"Come on, Jessica…please just be a big girl for me tonight and then tomorrow you spend all day with him."

"Okay…" She sighed but still didn't look happy.

"Excuse me; are you here for Inspector Mann?" A nurse approached them.

"Yes."

"If you would like follow me…" She smiled at them.

Despite being upset with Mary, Jessica still reached up and took her hand as they followed the nurse down the corridor.

"I'll be just outside if you need anything." The nurse said kindly when she opened the door and stepped aside to let them in.

"Uncle Marshall!" Jessica ran towards the bed.

"Hey, slow down…" Mary grabbed just in time to stop her from jumping on the bed.

"Hey, what are you doing here?" Marshall asked, surprised.

"Mom's going to shout at you for getting into trouble."

Marshall looked up at Mary. "You know I already have a concussion, right?"

"No one is going to shout at anyone." She replied. "You are an idiot, though."

"Thanks, Mare…" He rolled his eyes.

"Did you cry when you hit your head?" Jessica asked as she leaned against the bed and tried to push herself up onto it.

"Nope, I was brave." He replied and reached down to lift her up.

"Marshall!" Mary glared at him and moved forward to stop him but he already placed Jessica on the bed.

"What?"

"You got busted ribs and a broken wrist…you shouldn't be picking her up."

"It's fine."

Jessica looked from Mary to Marshall in concern. "Did I hurt you, Uncle Marshall?"

"No, Princess you didn't." Marshall told her, kissing the top of her head.

"Uncle Marshall, I meant to kiss your head better!"

"Oh, I'm sorry." He leaned forward and she sat up and kissed his forehead.

"Is that better?"

"Lots!" Marshall replied causing her to grin widely.

"Okay, well I see you are your normal crazy self…I'll be right back." Mary stepped out the room and Stan followed her.

"If you're going to try and convince me not to stay…"

"Mary, you can see for yourself he's fine." Stan gestured back to the room.

"You don't know that." She replied and Stan sighed. "You don't…He's not going to let on that there is anything wrong with Jessica in there."

"Mary…"

"I'm serious, Stan…You might be right but hospitals bring back a lot of bad memories for the both of us and I'm not willing to take that risk just because he's putting on the 'Brave and great Uncle Marshall' routine for my daughter."

Stan held up his hands in defeat. "Okay, you win."

"It wasn't a contest." Mary replied. "I'll be right back."

"Tell Brandi I'll bring Jessica over to her place…saves her coming all the way here."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I'm going that way and I drove Marshall's truck here so the child seat is in the back."

"That would be great, Stan…Thanks."

"No problem…I knew Marshall spent a lot of time with the two of you but I never quite realized how close they are." Stan added glancing through the window in the door and saw Jessica was now curled up to Marshall's side with a book open.

Mary shrugged as she pressed a few buttons on her cell phone. "Nothing can come between the two of them…"

"Like mother like daughter then." Stan smirked before re-entering Marshall's room.

Mary looked up quickly but then rolled her eyes and put the phone to her ear. "Hey Brandi, I need a favor…."

She explained to her sister what was going on and Brandi was only too happy to have her niece spend the night with her. As Jessica got older, Mary got more comfortable leaving her with her family but only when Marshall was not available.

She also knew that there was a good chance that Mark would start asking for her to go stay with him and she did not know how she felt about that. Over the past three years, he had wanted to play more of a role in Jessica's life. He would phone and email more often to see how she was doing then every three months, he would come to Albuquerque to visit. Jessica would call him 'Dad' but Mary was pretty sure she did not really know the meaning of the word. Although, she enjoyed the time she spent with him, it was nothing compared to when she spent time with Marshall. She still dreaded the day when she would have to explain why her Uncle was more of a Dad to her then her Father was.

She thanked Brandi again before hanging up and when she walked back into the hospital room again, she found Jessica reading the story to Marshall but since she still could not read that well, she was making the story up as she went along.

Mary took a seat and just listened, silently. She watched Marshall closely and could tell he was in pain just because he wasn't joining in on Jessica's story telling.

"The end." Jessica announced and closed the book.

"That was some story." Stan commented.

"Okay, Jessica…say goodnight to Uncle Marshall, Stan's going to take you over to Aunt Brandi's." Mary told her.

"I want to stay here." She led her head on Marshall's chest and put her arm across his stomach, he winced a little but she didn't notice.

"Come on, Uncle Marshall needs some rest and Aunt Brandi is looking forward to having a sleepover with you." Mary added as she stood up.

Marshall kissed the top of her head, gently. "You can come and see me tomorrow."

"You promise?" She looked up at him.

"I promise."

She sighed loudly and sat up properly to kiss his cheek before wrapping her arms around his neck. "Goodnight Uncle Marshall, love you."

"Love you too, Princess." He smiled and hugged her back.

"I don't like it when you get hurt, Uncle Marshall." She whispered.

"I'll try not to do it in future." He laughed lightly.

"Good."

"I'll see you in the morning." Mary picked her off the bed and gave her a kiss. "Be good."

"Night, Mom…Love you." She hugged Mary before being placed on the floor.

"Marshall, I'll see you tomorrow…Mary…behave." He gave her a warning look as he took hold on Jessica's hand.

"And don't shout at Uncle Marshall…he's got a headache." Jessica added.

Mary rolled her eyes. "I'll be on my best behavior…Now, get out of here, the both of you."

"Goodnight."

When the door closed behind them, Mary turned to face Marshall. "You okay?"

"Looks worse than it is." He replied.

"Marshall…."

"Honestly, Mare…this is nothing."

"Why didn't you put a fight to stop me from staying the night then?" She questioned as she retook her seat.

"Wouldn't do any good…" He shrugged. "Since we've been partner, if one of us has to stay in hospital, the others stays too…no matter how serious the injury is."

"That's true." She replied, deep in thought. "But that doesn't mean I'm going down without a fight the next time when I'm in here and you want to stay."

"I'll look forward to it." He replied, knowing she was trying to lighten the mood.

"So, how do you really feel?"

"They gave me some good drugs so not too bad at the moment." He answered and closed his eyes, leaning back against the pillow. "But better after seeing my two favorite girls."

Mary rolled her eyes again; they must have been giving him the good stuff if he was getting all sappy on her. "I'm going to tell Stan you called him a girl."

Marshall laughed but then groaned, moving his uninjured hand to his side. "Don't make me laugh, it hurts too much."

"Then stop talking and go to sleep."

"Okay…" He yawned. "Night, Mare."

"Good night." She replied, moving her chair closer to the bed, so she could take his hand in hers.

She watched him silently and thought about Stan's comment earlier. Marshall was her best friend and she loved him but she did not know whether she was in love with him. She knew in the past, he had feelings for her but now she wasn't so sure. She remembered his speech to her, about her needing something 'messy', she couldn't help but think if they were in a relationship it would be anything but messy. They knew each other better than anyone else and they spent so much time together that not much would change. Plus, he was already pretty much helping raise her daughter…they would be the family that she always wished for Jessica. The problem was she didn't know whether it was worth the risk of losing him if it didn't work out. She was reluctant to put her own heart on the line like that and adamant not to risk Jessica's at all…

She just wished she knew for sure what real love was and if Marshall and she stood any sort of chance.

**TBC**

**Please review! **


	5. Chapter 5

**Okay, I managed to update quickly for once! Lol! Thanks for all the reviews! Please keep them coming! **

**Enjoy! **

**Two Marshals and a Baby**

Marshall had just got out of the shower after his morning run and was debating whether or not to go out for breakfast. He had the weekend off and with Jessica's fifth birthday in two weeks, he was planning on trying to find the perfect gift so he decided to stop at Starbucks for a coffee and a danish on his way to the shopping center.

He was just about the leave the house, when his cell phone rang. He frowned, when Mary's name flashed up on the caller's ID. He knew his partner had plans with Brandi and that Mark was in town to spend some time with Jessica.

"Hey, Mare, what's up?"

"Uncle Marshall?" Jessica whispered, tearfully.

"Jessica?"

"Uncle Marshall…I'm scared…"

He was already on his way to the front door. "Where are you? Where's Mom?"

"I'm my bedroom…" She hiccupped. "Uncles Marshall, can you come get me."

"I'm on my way Princess." He started up the engine and backed out his drive at speed. "Where is your Mom? She's she okay?"

"She's shouting."

Marshall pushed down harder on the accelerator and was relieved that it was still early, so there was not much traffic on the roads. He reached Mary's house in record time, breaking several speed and traffic laws.

"Okay, Jessie, I'm here…okay?" He jumped out the car, jogging up the garden path to the front door, noticing both Mark's and Mary's cars were in the driveway. He could hear the shouting from outside and he quickly opened the door, using his own key.

"Mary?" He called out, heading for the kitchen where the arguing was coming from.

"Marshall?" She turned around in surprise, the shouting match with Mark, falling silent. "What are you doing here?"

"Uncle Marshall!" Jessica ran at full speed into the arm and jumped at him.

He caught her mid-air and pulled her closely to him. She clung onto him tightly and buried her face in his neck.

"Hey, it's okay…" He soothed, rubbing her back gently. He glanced up at Mary, who was staring at them opened mouth. "She called me on your cell…Scared out of her mind."

She looked over at Mark and saw he looked as guilty as she felt. "Oh, Jessica I'm sorry…we didn't mean to scare you."

When Mary placed a hand on Jessica's back, the little girl tried to squirm away from her and tightened her hold on Marshall.

Marshall shot her a sympathetic look and she was stepped back, surprised at her daughter's reaction.

"I'll be right back." He told them and carried Jessica back to her bedroom.

"Well, hasn't this visit gone well?" Mary said sarcastically, turning back to Mark.

"Hey, if you would just…"

"Don't…Mark, just…Don't." She cut him.

He muttered something and turned his back to her, leaning his hands on the counter. Mary paced around the kitchen, glancing towards Jessica's room every now and then. She wanted to check on her daughter but knew Marshall could handle it. It was not very often that Jessica got upset and Mary had never seen her this bad before, but she knew she probably only make things worse.

"Why did she call him?" Mark broke the silence.

"What?"

"Don't you think it's a little weird that she called him instead of coming out to us?"

"No, you idiot, it was not weird! She was scared and it was us that were scaring her!" Mary threw her hands up in the air. "Why wouldn't she call Marshall? He's her Uncle and she loves him…He means the world to her."

"She's my daughter."

"Yeah, I'm well aware of that."

Before Mark could say anymore, Marshall re-entered the kitchen alone.

"Is she okay?" Mary asked.

"She's calmed down a little but she's still upset." Marshall replied. "If you like, I could take her to my place for a while…give you two, chance to finish whatever it is you're doing?"

"There's no…." Mark started but again Mary cut him off.

"That would be great." She nodded before sending Mark a look, daring him to argue with her and he wisely shut his mouth. "I'll give you a call when we're done."

"Okay." He also looked over at Mark but did not say anything.

Mark dropped down to sit at the kitchen table with a loud sigh. Mary waited until Marshall carried Jessica out of her room and towards the front door. She followed them out to his truck and was hit with another wave of guilt when she saw how badly it was parked. She knew Marshall must have been terrified to get that phone call from Jessica.

"Are you going to say goodbye to Mom?" Marshall asked Jessica, when they reached the truck but the little girl shook her head, still refusing to look at Mary.

"It is fine, Marshall." Mary replied softly. "I'm sorry Jessica; we never meant to be upset you."

Jessica still did not move or make a sound and Marshall sighed, not sure what to do.

"You better get going." Mary wrapped her arms around herself.

Marshall hesitated but then opened the back door and strapped Jessica into her car seat. He stood back up and closed the door.

"Are you going to be okay?" Marshall asked her.

"Of course…" She shrugged.

"I could take her around to Brandi's and come back here." He suggested.

"There's no need."

"Mare, if you need me here…"

"Jessica needs you more." She replied. "Come on, you know you're the only person that can get her to smile again."

"What were you even arguing about?"

"He wanted to take her back to New Jersey for a few days so she could meet his family." She explained.

"You are in your rights to say no."

"I never…Well, not really..." She sighed. "He spoke to Jessica about it first, I guess he thought if she was board then it would be easier to convince me…but she freaked out and Mark wanted to take her anyway…said she would fine when she got there but there was no way I was letting her go."

"Mare, you did the right thing." He assured her.

"Yeah, until I scared the hell out of her."

"She's just not used to all the yelling…" He replied and then smirked. "A little surprising considering who her Mom is."

"Shut up." She slapped his arm. "You better go."

"Okay but call me if you need me." He told her.

She nodded. "I let you know when it's safe to come back."

"I'll see you later." He stepped forward and placed a kiss on the top of her head then got into the truck.

Mary gave them a little wave as they drove away. She took a deep breath, willing herself to go back into the house and face Mark. She wanted nothing more than to get into her own car and follow Marshall and Jessica over his house to spend the day with them but knew she couldn't.

She thought back to Mark's comment about Jessica being his daughter. She had wanted to say that Marshall was more of a Dad to her then he was but that would only hurt him and even though she was mad at him for the way he acted, she knew Mark loved Jessica and wanted to be a good Father. It just wasn't happening with him so far away and Mary was actually happy about that because it gave Marshall the chance to step into that role.

When she had become pregnant, she never thought she would want to keep the baby, to be a Mom but now she would not give it up for the world. She knew a large part of way she was able to cope was because of Marshall and how amazing he had been. Always on hand to babysit when she had to work or just needed a break. Even when she wasn't at the work, Marshall was normally around so the three of them could hang out. She knew other people were confused by their relationship, that they could not understand why they were not a couple despite acting like one.

Since Jessica had been born, they had become closer and stronger than ever. Mary had considered several times about crossing that final line and telling him how she truly felt about him but there was always something stopping her. She also wasn't sure how Marshall felt about her.

He was always kissing her goodbye now but had only started that when Jessica was about two years old and demanded a goodbye kiss from everyone then started telling Marshall he had to kiss Mommy goodbye too. She also was more affectionate with him; putting her head on his shoulder whenever they watched a movie, putting her hand on his arm or back to get his attention. Hugging him when it was the just the two of them but it never went any further of that. She had decided a while ago that if they were ever going to change their relationship status, then it would have to be Marshall who made the first move.

_**xXxXx**_

"Do want to help me make pancakes?" Marshall asked Jessica as he carried her into his house.

She shrugged but did not say anything. Marshall was just relieved she had stopped crying.

"Hey, come on…I thought you liked my pancakes."

"Can I have chocolate chip pancakes?" She asked quietly.

Marshall grinned widely. "Of course, chocolate chip pancakes are the best kind."

He sat Jessica down on the kitchen while he got out the ingredients they would need. As they made the pancakes, Jessica slowly started to enjoy herself and when they sat down to eat them, Marshall couldn't help but smile; they both were covered in flour and batter.

"Is Mom mad at me?" Jessica asked suddenly.

"What? No, why would she be mad at you?"

"Because I didn't say goodbye to her."

"She's not mad; she's just upset that you got scared." Marshall said softly.

"Is Dad mad at me because I didn't want to go visit with him?"

"No, Jessie…no one is mad at you." He moved to knell next to her chair. "And it's okay if you don't want to go stay with your Dad."

She nodded and looked down at her pancake, poking it with her fork.

"And it's okay if you do want to go stay with him, too." He added, gently.

"What if I miss you and Mom?" She asked tearfully.

Marshall laughed lightly. "Princess, you'll probably be having too much fun to miss us."

"Nu-huh!" She shook her head.

Marshall put his arms around her and hugged her. "Well, don't worry about it because no one is going to make you do anything you don't want to do."

"Promise?"

"Promise."

_**XxXxX**_

Mary had called Marshall a few hours later, telling him Mark had gone home; deciding it was probably a good idea to cancel his day with Jessica. When Marshall had brought Jessica home, she hugged Mary tightly before asking if Uncle Marshall could stay with them. They had spent the day watching movies and playing games before ordering pizza for dinner. That night, Marshall had just finished cleaning up when he found Mary stood in the doorway to Jessica room, watching her sleep.

"You okay?" He whispered, putting a hand on her shoulder.

"Yeah," she replied, leaning into him and he put his arm around her waist. "It's just…"

"Just what?" Marshall prompted when she stopped mid-sentence.

"I always tell Mark if he wants Jessica to know him better…If he wants to be a better Father then he needs to make the effort and spend more time with her…" She sighed. "But when he tries, I stop him."

"You didn't stop him, Mare…Jessica isn't ready yet…he needs to spend more time with her, here before she'll be comfortable with going to stay with him."

"I don't want him to spend more time with her." She admitted. "Does that make me a horrible person?"

"No." He kissed her temple. "It's perfectly understandable."

"Is it?" She glanced up at him. "He's a good guy and he is trying."

"But he's let you down more than once in the past. You're just trying to protect her." He said softly. "I remember when I was a kid, my oldest brother Jack was about 15 at the time and his girlfriend had just dump him…She was his first love and he was heartbroken…As you can imagine my Dad wasn't very sympathetic but my Mom tried to make him feel better…"

"Is there a point to this story?" Mary cut in.

"Yes, listen…Anyone, he shouted at them…told them that they don't understand, that they didn't know how much it hurt." He continued. "I'll never forgot what my Mom reply was…She said 'I'm your Mother, when you hurt…I hurt."

Mary looked up at him, silently waiting.

"The point is, Mare…you're scared Mark will hurt Jessica by getting close to her and then leaving….You already lost your Dad and to watch Jessica go through the same thing would probably hurt you ten times more then everything your Dad did to you." He finished.

"Marshall…If Mark ever hurt her, if he ever let her down then I would hunt him until I found him and then I would kill him." She told him, turning around in his arms and looked up at him. "But you have to know…that if anything were to happen to you…if we lost you…that would be what destroyed us….What would destroy me."

"Mare…"

"I am worried he will hurt but I know if he did, we both would be there to pick up the pieces." She continued. "I don't want him to spend more time because he doesn't need too…because as far as I'm concerned, you're her Dad…And I want that for her so badly, Marshall…I want her to have everything I didn't….I want her to be a Daddy's girl but you're the only person I trust enough to fill that role for her because it's hard losing your Dad and it takes a long while to get over…"

He stared down at her, stunned silent.

"But I'm over that, Marshall…There's another man that is more important to me then my Dad could ever be."

She stared right into his eyes, waiting to see what his next move would be. She noticed him leaning forward a little and she thought he was going to kiss her but a noise from the bedroom snapped him back to reality. He laughed lightly, when he heard Jessica mumble something about pancakes as she rolled over.

"Marshall?" Mary said quietly, trying to get his attention again.

He flicked his down to her before back to Jessica. "We'll figure this all out, Mare…but not now…not tonight."

Mary slowly turned back to look at her daughter, more confused than she was before but it did not stop her from leaning back against Marshall when he kissed the side of her head again and tightened his arm around her waist.

**TBC**

**I don't really know where all the Mary/Marshall stuff came from. That part sort of wrote itself! Anyway, please review and let me know what you think! **


	6. Chapter 6

**Thanks for all the reviews and everyone who added this story to their favorites and alerts! Please review and let me know what you think! **

**Enjoy!**

**Two Marshals and a Baby**

Marshall watched curiously as Jessica dragged Brandi out of the room, the minute everyone had finished singing happy birthday and she had blown out the five candles on the cake.

"What's that about?" Marshall gestured to the pair as they disappeared into the kitchen.

"I don't know and I don't care…" Mary was looking around the room. "What I care about is where I'm going to put all this stuff."

Marshall turned his attention to the birthday gifts. "She did get a lot of stuff this year."

"I'm going to need to move to a bigger house just so I have room to put it all."

"I'll take some of her old toys to my house…make room for the new." He suggested. "Any maybe she would be willing to give some that she doesn't play with anymore away to charity."

"I guess we could give that a try."

"Great, now why don't you cut the cake, before the kids start helping themselves?" He suggested, watching Jessica's friends from school getting closer and closer to the cake.

Mary groaned. "Whose stupid idea was it to have a party anyway?"

"Every kid needs a fifth birthday party." Marshall said defensively as he followed her over to the cake.

_**XxXxX**_

"So, what's up, Kiddo?" Brandi asked once they were alone in the kitchen.

"Am I allowed to tell you my birthday wish?"

"It won't come true if you tell anyone."

"Oh…" She frowned. "What if I said it really quietly and quickly?"

Brandi laughed. "I don't know…Why don't you go ask your Uncle Marshall? That's something he'll probably know all about."

"I can't ask Uncle Marshall because it's about him."

"Really?" Brandi asked curiously. "Well, maybe it would be alright if you told me just this once."

"You promise you won't tell anyone else?"

"I promise."

"Okay, I wished that Uncle Marshall and Mom would kiss."

Brandi stared at her niece for a few seconds in surprise. "Why do you want that?"

"Because my friend Bethany has a new Dad and he lives them now and he and her Mom kiss all the time." She explained. "If Uncle Marshall kisses Mom then he could come and live with us."

Brandi smiled widely. "Well, Jessica I think would be pretty cool."

"Me too!" She grinned. "Do you think my wish will come true?"

"Maybe but how about we help it along?"

"How?" Jessica frowned.

"Just leave that to me…" Brandi told her. "But you can't tell anyone else, okay? It'll be our little secret."

"Okay." Jessica hugged her tightly. "Thanks, Aunt Brandi."

"No problem…Now come on, why don't we go see if that cake is ready?"

Brandi could not stop grinning when she re-entered the room. She moved to stand beside Mary and watched as Marshall gave each child a slice of cake.

"What?" Mary looked at her with irritation. "What are you smiling at?"

"Nothing."

"Brandi, you got that look on your face..."

"This is my normal face!" She claimed but failed to stop the smiling.

"Brandi…"

"Jeez, it's my niece's birthday party…am I not allowed to be happy?" She questioned just as Marshall joined them with two plates of cake. "Thanks."

Marshall watched as she took a plate off him and walked away. "What's going on?"

"I don't know but she's up to something."

_**XxXxX**_

Two nights later, Mary came home from work to find Brandi and Jessica whispering about something but she never thought much about it. After another hour Mary was surprised that Brandi was still there; normally she would leave pretty much after she got home.

"Everything okay, Squish?" Mary questioned as she looked in the fridge, trying to decide what to have for dinner.

"Yeah, sure…" She shrugged, watching her from her position sat on the counter beside Jessica.

Mary stood up straight and looked at her, curiously. "You don't normally hang around…"

"Got nothing planned tonight."

"Aunt Brandi can stay for dinner!" Jessica suggested.

"I guess…" Mary looked between the two of them.

"Sure!" She jumped down. "What we having?"

"I don't know…There's not much in there." Mary gestured to the fridge.

"Why don't you take a nice hot bath and leave dinner to me?"

"Are you sure, you're feeling okay?"

"Yeah, no problem…" Brandi pushed her out of the kitchen. "Jessica can help me."

"Yay!"

"Brandi…"

"Mare, just let me help you out once and a while." Brandi continued to move her towards the bathroom.

"Fine, if it means that much to you…" Mary relented. She could do an hour relax, it had been a tough day at work.

As soon as Mary was out of sight, Brandi turned back to Jessica and picked her up off the counter. "Okay, kiddo let's get to work!"

"What are we going to do?" Jessica questioned when she was set on the floor.

"We're going to make a nice dinner for your Mom and Uncle Marshall."

Jessica pulled a face. "Mom and Uncle Marshall have dinner together all the time."

"Yeah but time we're going to make it all romantic." Brandi told her.

"How?"

"Candle, music, flowers and mood lighting." Brandi explained and grabbed a takeaway menu off the counter. "Plus great food."

"Okay, if you say so." Jessica shrugged, not entirely convinced.

"Trust me."

_**XxXxX**_

Marshall had had the witness from hell today. Gary Mitchell ratted on his own brother, who was working with him in an attempt to steal millions of dollars from the bank Gary worked in, to save himself from a jail sentence. He was not happy with anything today. He moaned about how the Memorandum of Understanding was too long, and how was he meant to remember it. He complained about how he was not allowed to take any momentums from his old life and how he was not able to contact his family; Marshall had to remind him, it was his family they were protecting him from. He said the apartment they rented for him was too small and refused to apply for any of job that Marshall showed him.

He was trying to decide whether he could be bothered to cook or if he should just order a takeout when his phone beeped, signaling a text message. He frowned a little when he saw it was from Mary, asking to come over because there was something she wanted to talk to him about. Sighed, he grabbed his jacket and car keys and headed back out the door.

_**XxXxX**_

Mary was just stepping out of the bath when she heard the doorbell. She listened closely for a few seconds, when she heard the front door open and then close a minute later, she frowned.

"Who's at the door?" She yelled to Brandi.

"Um….no one."

"I heard the bell."

"Just someone selling some stuff…Told them we're not interested."

Mary could not help but think that her sister was up to something but did not know what. Shaking her head slightly, she wrapped a towel around herself and exited the bathroom. She glanced down the hall towards the kitchen on her way to the bedroom but could not see anything.

She was just getting dressed when she heard the doorbell again. She pulled on her jeans and pulled a t-shirt over her head when there was a light knock on the door.

"Mare?"

"Marshall?" She said in surprise, she didn't realize he was coming over tonight. "You're safe, come on in."

"Hey." He stepped in the room.

"What's up?"

Mary shrugged. "I think Brandi is plotting the take over the world or something but other than that, not much…"

"Oh…Where's Jess?"

"You didn't see her?" Mary questioned.

"Brandi answered the door and said you were in here." Marshall replied. "Anyway, what did you need to talk about?"

"Me? Doofus, it was you that came here."

"Yeah, because of your text."

"What text?"

"Hey, Mare…" Brandi called from the other side of the bedroom door. "I'm going to get going."

"I thought you were staying for dinner?"

"Something came up but everything is ready for you." She replied. "Marshall can have mine…See ya!"

"There something definitely going on." Mary muttered then looked at her partner. "You might as well stay now that you're here."

"Why do I have a bad feeling about this?" He questioned.

He followed her out the room, down the hall and into the kitchen to see all the lights were off and the room was lit by a single candle in the middle of the table. There were also a vase with 12 red roses and a bottle of wine, chilling in an ice bucket. Jessica was stood beside the table in her favorite Princess dress.

"Hey, Jess…what's going on?" Marshall questioned when he realized Mary was stunned silent.

"Aunt Brandi and I made you dinner." She said proudly but then frowned at their reactions. "Don't you like it?"

"No, no…It looks great." He said quickly and then nudged Mary. "Right, Mare?"

"Oh, yeah…right." Mary was still trying to work out what was going on.

"Would you like the sit down?" Jessica gestured dramatically towards the chairs.

"We would love to." Marshall smiled and stepped towards the table.

"Uncle Marshall, you're meant to pull the chair out for Mom!" Jessica rolled her eyes.

"Oh, of course…Silly me." He pulled out the chair for Mary, theatrically and swept his arm out. "Malady…"

Jessica giggled at his action and Mary rolled her eyes but stepped forward and sat down.

"So, what are we eating?" Marshall asked her as he took his own seat.

Jessica shrugged. "I don't know…Aunt Brandi ordered it."

They watched as she picked up two plates off the counter and brought them over to the table, wobbling slightly.

"Takeout, I hope." Mary commented and Marshall shot her a look, telling her to be nice.

"Where's your plate, Princess?" Marshall asked once she set the plate down in front of him.

"Aunt Brandi and I ate earlier." She claimed. "This is for you…I'll be right back."

"I knew they were plotting something." Mary said once Jessica had run out the room.

"She's just wants to play hostess." Marshall shrugged and started eating.

"If she wanted to play hostess, then she would have asked one of us…she asked my sister which means this is something else." Mary replied. "They've been planning this all day."

"What would they gain?"

"The food, the lights, the candles, the roses…" Mary pointed to each object. "Jesus, Marshall…you're meant to be the smart one in this partnership."

"You think…?"

"This is a date." Mary stated. "We've been setup on a date."

Marshall let out a groan, how could have not seen that coming.

"Listen, we'll talk to her, explained that Brandi has got it wrong and we don't need to be set up." Mary said.

"I know your sister has done some crazy things in the past but I can't see her just deciding to do this…What if Jessica said something to her?" Marshall asked.

"Then we'll tell her we're just friends." Mary shrugged. "She's a smart kid, Marshall…she'll understand."

"I hope so."

"Since they did go to all this trouble, we might as well eat." Mary picked up her fork. "Plus, I cannot remember the last time Brandi shelled out for dinner."

Jessica came back just as they were finishing their meals with a slice of chocolate pie. She placed it in the middle and then tried to pick up their empty plates but when she almost dropped them, Marshall stood up and took them to the sink for her.

"Come on, Uncle Marshall…you got to eat your dessert now." She grabbed his hand pulled him back to the table.

"There's only one here." Mary pointed out.

"Duh, you got to share." She rolled her eyes. "Aunt Brandi said it's more romantic."

Mary and Marshall shared a look, trying to decide what to say or do. Mary sighed and stood up.

"Why don't we call go sit and have a talk?" She suggested, reaching for her daughter's hand.

"But chocolate pie is your favorite."

"It is but there something Uncle Marshall and I need to talk to you about."

"Come on, Jessie." Marshall led over the couch.

"Did I do something wrong?"

"No, Princess but we have to know why you did this tonight." Marshall asked as they sat down.

"Aunt Brandi said it would be romantic."

"Why did Aunt Brandi say that?" Mary questioned.

"Because I told her I want you and Uncle Marshall to kiss and she said it had to a romantic night."

"Jessica, why would you want Uncle Marshall and me to kiss?"

"So you can get married and Uncle Marshall can live here with us and I can have a new Daddy like Bethany."

"Jessica…" Mary sighed. "It doesn't work like that."

"Why not?" She pouted.

"Because your Mom and I are friends…best friends." Marshall said softly.

"But don't you love us, Uncle Marshall?"

Marshall's heart broke when he saw tears in her eyes. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into his lap. "Of course I love you…both of you, you're the most important things into me in the entire world."

"Then why don't you want to live with us?"

"Because that's how things are." He tried to explain. "It's boring grown up stuff…you'll understand when you're older."

"I hate grown up." She muttered her face still buried in his chest.

"Thank you for making us a lovely dinner, though." Mary added, placing a hand on her back comfortingly.

"You're not mad at me?" She sat up to look at her.

"No, we're not mad at you." She smiled a little. "It was very sweet of you."

"Are you mad at Aunt Brandi?"

"A little bit…Yeah."

"Good, me too…I told her, her plan was stupid and wouldn't work."

Mary laughed lightly and then glanced at the clock, not realizing how late it was. "Right, Misses…it's time for bed."

"Nooo…"

"Come on, who do you want to tuck you in…me or Uncle Marshall?" She asked, although she already knew the answer.

"Uncle Marshall!" She put her arms back around his neck.

"Okay, Princess…" He stood up with her in his arms and then leaned down so she could kiss Mary. "Say goodnight to Mom."

"Night Mom."

"Sweet dreams." Mary replied, giving her a kiss.

Marshall helped her change into her pajamas and then read her a story before kissing her forehead and saying goodnight.

"Uncle Marshall?" She whispered as he stood up.

"Yeah?"

"I still think it would be really good if you just moved in with us."

Marshall sighed and sat back down on the edge of the bed. "Princess, I'm here all the time anyway."

"So, why not just live here?"

"Where would I sleep?" He questioned.

"In the bedroom across the hall." She answered, pointing in its direction.

"Ah but where will Aunt Brandi and Jinx sleep when they want to stay?" He asked. "And what about all your toys that are in there?"

"Oh…" She frowned for a minute. "You can get rid of my toys."

"Jessica…"

"And you can sleep in my bed and I'll sleep in my sleeping bag!" She claimed. "Please, Uncle Marshall…I'll be really well behaved!"

He couldn't help but laugh a little. "Jessica, you're not giving up your toys or your bed but thank you for offering."

"But…"

"I promise I'll be here for you…whenever you need me." He assured her.

"What if you get lonely at your house?" She asked.

"Then I'll come over here to spend time with you and your Mom."

"But…"

"Jessie, trust me, everything will be okay…I'll always be around for you and your Mom and I won't get lonely." He brushed a piece of her hair behind her hair. "I don't need to live with you to take care of you…Besides, if I lived here, you wouldn't be able to come and have sleepovers at my house."

"Oh yeah…" She replied and then yawned.

He kissed her forehead. "Go to sleep."

"Okay…" She whispered, her eyes closing slowly.

"Good night."

"Good night, Uncle Marshall…Love you."

"Love you too." He sat there for a few minutes, waiting until she was asleep before getting up and leaving the room, glancing back at her once more before closing the door quietly behind him.

"Is she asleep?" Mary asked from her position still on the couch when he walked into the living room.

"Yeah, after trying to convince me to move in again." He sighed. "What are we going to do?"

"Eat pie?" She held up the plate and two forks. "Pie makes everything better."

He hesitated for a moment before dropping down beside her and taking a fork.

"You're worrying about this too much." Mary told him around a mouthful of pie.

"She's upset, Mare…"

"I know but she'll get over it." She assured her.

"And if she doesn't?"

"Then you'll just have to move in." Mary shrugged.

He rolled his eyes. "You just want me to live here so you have someone to do all the cooking and cleaning."

"Damn right."

"Stop hogging the pie." He took the plate out of her hand.

"It's not my fault you eat too slowly." She commented. She watched him for a few minutes as he silently ate. "You do realize this was Brandi plan, right?"

"Yeah."

"And that Jessica probably has her own plan worked out in her mind."

He thought about it for a few seconds before groaning and closing his eyes, letting his head fall back against the couch.

"Marshall?" She said, a little amused by his reaction.

"What?" He muttered, not moving or looking at her.

He was about to sit up when she did not say anything but before he could, he felt her lips on his. He was too surprise to begin with but after a few seconds, he kissed back then forced himself to pull away.

"Mare?"

"Tell me you don't want this….tell me everything Jessica said tonight about you moving in here and the three of us being a family, is not what you want." She whispered, inches from his face. "You said a few weeks back that we would work it all out but we haven't yet…now is the time, Marshall."

"I do want this, Mare…More now than ever before…"

"But?" She prompted when he trailed off. She placed a finger under his chin and left his face so he was looking at her. "Talk to me, Marshall."

"You said if you lost me…if anything happened then it would destroy you…"

"I meant it."

"I know but you would carry on…"

"No…"

"I know you would because you would have too…You would have to because of Jessica." He cut her off. "But Mare…I wouldn't have that."

"What?"

"If we were together and it did not work out…do you really think we would be able to go back to how things were?" He asked. "I would lose everything…My best friend, my partner…my daughter."

"Marshall." She whispered. "I would never keep you from seeing her."

"You can't promise that, Mary." He replied. "You can promise that you wouldn't want get as far away from me as possible…to transfer to another office in another state."

"What makes you think we wouldn't work out?" She asked. "Don't you think we would be good together?"

"We would great together but I'm scared."

"Don't be." She gently caressed his cheek. "We've been through too much together…We've denied our feels for too long…It's time for us to be happy."

"I can't believe after all these years it's you convincing me its time." He said jokingly.

"I know I've hurt you in the past, Marshall and I'm sorry but I promise you I want this…I want you…I want us to be family." She replied, seriously. "We'll take it as slowly as you want but we're going to be fine because I'm never letting you go."

He stared into her eyes for a few seconds before leaning and kissing her deeply.

"Okay…" He said breathlessly, combing her hair back off her face. "I'm in."

"At last!" She grinned and pulled him back in for another kiss.

**TBC**

**Please review! **


	7. Chapter 7

**Hi, sorry it's taken so long to update this story. Thank you so much to everyone who reviewed or added this to their favorite and alert lists. This chapter is about Marshall/Mary relationship then his with Jessica. I hope you like it. Please review! **

**Enjoy! **

**Two Marshals and a Baby**

Mary woke with start and sat up straight, waking Marshall, who she had been led on.

"What? What's going on?" He asked.

"It's almost 11 o'clock…I told Brandi I would be home by ten."

"We must have fallen asleep." He looked at the TV and saw the movie they had been watching was over.

"You think?" She said sarcastically, pulling on her boots.

He sighed and rubbed his eyes. "I wish you didn't have to go."

She glanced over her shoulder at him. "If we were at my place, you could have stayed over."

"But Jessica…"

"I know." She gave him a small understanding smile.

It had been almost six weeks since they had talked and decided to give a relationship ago but no one else knew about them yet. They were taking things at slow pace which Mary hated but it was what Marshall wanted so she was willing to try it. If they wanted to be alone, they would spend time at Marshall's house and Mary would ask Brandi or Jinx to babysit, telling them she had to work. She had been trying to convince Marshall to stay at hers but he did not want to risk Jessica seeing him there in a middle of the night and wonder why. After the dinner date they were set up on, neither of them wanted to get her hopes up too soon but Mary was pretty sure she would spend the rest of her life with this man.

"What's the look for?" Marshall asked, cautiously.

"What? Nothing…" She shrugged and turned her attention back to putting on her boots.

When she stood up, Marshall was beside her with her jacket. After he helped her slip it on, he turned her around so he could kiss her. She put her arms around his neck and ran her hands through his hair just because she knew it annoyed him.

"Y'know, most guys are taking clothes off me and leading me to the bedroom right about now." She mumbled, pulling back slightly when she realized he had walked them over to the front door.

He groaned and closed his eyes, taking a deep breath. "You've got to get home for Jessica."

"I could call Brandi…" She suggested. "She wouldn't mind staying the night."

"You promised Jessica you would take her out for breakfast tomorrow." He reminded her, kissing her once more before taking a step back.

"Oh yeah." She sighed loudly. "This would be much easier if you would just spend the night at mine."

"We agreed to take it slow." He replied.

"This is slower and then slow." She grumbled.

"Patience….it'll be worth the wait." He assured her.

"It better be because you're building yourself up here, buddy."

Marshall couldn't help but laugh. "I'll try not to disappoint."

"Well, I guess I better go then." She turned towards the door and opened it. "Are you coming over tomorrow?"

"There is some stuff I need to do at the office but I'll stop by after."

"We'll have a pizza and DVD night then?" She suggested.

"Sounds great." He smiled and gave her another quick kiss.

"You sure you don't want to come home with me?"

"Get out of here." He gave her a gentle push.

She sighed loudly and shot him a mock glare but was struggling to keep the smile off her face.

"See you tomorrow."

"You're buying the pizza." She glanced back over her shoulder as she walked to her car.

"Yeah, nothing new there."

_**XxXxX**_

Marshall had left Mary and Jessica on the couch where they had fallen asleep, curled up together under the blanket, while he cleaned up the pizza box and their ice cream bowls. He knew he could spend the rest of his life having night like this. He wouldn't care what they ate or did, just as long as it was the three of them.

He sat on the coffee table and watched them for a few minutes, smiling softly.

"Mare?" He whispered. "Mary?"

When she didn't stir, Marshall reached into his pocket and pulled out his cell phone. He took a quick picture of the two of them; knowing Mary would kill him if she caught him, he knew how much she hated her photo being taken. He smiled at the image before pocketing the phone again. He hated to disturb them but they would be much more comfortable in their own beds.

He carefully untangled Jessica from Mary and lifted her into his arms. He paused as they both stirred but either woke up. He carried Jessica into her room and led her down on her bed. Tucking the covers around her, he kissed her forehead and brushed her hair out of her face.

"Sweet dreams, Princess." He whispered before switching on her nightlight and creeping out the room.

He glanced at Mary still sleeping on the couch and snuck out the door to his truck, after grabbing a bag from the backseat, he headed back inside.

"If you even think about trying to pick me up, I will shoot you." Mary mumbled, her eyes still closed, the second he sat back down on the coffee table.

"I was hoping you weren't quite ready for bed yet….It's only 9." He replied, picking up her hand and dropped small kisses on it.

She opened her eyes halfway to peer at him. "What are you up to?"

"Nothing." His lips moved to inside of her wrist.

"Jessica in bed?"

"Yep."

"Did I hear you go outside?"

"I had to grab something from the truck."

"What's that?" She mumbled stretching her back, trying to loosen up her muscles.

"A nice bottle of wine…The same we had at the Italian place a few weeks back."

She paused and looked at him. "You brought me a bottle of wine?"

"I brought us a bottle of wine." He corrected, threading his fingers through hers and leaning back to pull the bottle out of the bag and she saw he had place two wine glasses on the coffee table.

"You're going to share a bottle of wine with me?" She questioned. She looked at the bottle and she also saw his overnight bag. "You're not going to be able to drive home…"

"I know…" He shrugged. "And getting a taxi at this time of night would be a nightmare…"

When she saw the smirk on his face, she yanked his hand causing him to fall forward and land on top of her. He laughed and she moved her free hand to the back of his head and pulled him down to kiss her.

"Mare…." He managed to say between kisses. "The wine?"

"We've been together for six weeks, Marshall and you refused to do anything other than kiss…." She moved her lips down his neck, causing him to groan. "Screw the wine…I don't need the wine."

"Let's do this properly…" He leaned down and captured her lips again. "And quietly because if Jessica comes out and finds us…"

She sighed and pushed him back so she could sit up. "Fine, give me the wine."

He rolled his eyes and returned to sit on the coffee table. "You're such a romantic."

"You knew this about me before you started this relationship." She shot back as he opened the bottle.

He poured her a glass and when he handed it to her, she downed half of it in one mouthful.

He sighed and reached to take it off of her again.

"What?" She looked at him. "You wanted me to drink the wine…I'm drinking the wine."

"Mare, try and relax." He told her. "Enjoy the night instead of rushing to the end."

"Fine!" She sat back with her arms folded.

"Jessica gets the same look on her face when she doesn't get her own way."

"Yeah right, like she never gets her own way with you." Mary let out a laugh. "She has you wrapped around her little finger!"

"Just like her mother." He replied, gave her back the wine and moved to sit beside her, putting his free arm around her.

She automatically leaned into him. "If I always got my own way there would be less talking right now."

"Quit complaining, we've got all night."

"You're not the one will be woken up at 6am by a five year old…"

"Unless you decide to let me sleep in or kick me out at midnight then I probably will be."

"That is true…How do you plan on explaining your presence here in the morning?"

"I'm the best uncle in the world….I came over to save her the horror of your pancakes…"

"Oh you're so going to get it!" She claimed, putting her glass down and jumped on him.

"Hey, quit it!" He protested managing to put down his own wine glass down before it spilled as he tried to squirm away from her. "I never had you down as a tickler!"

"Say you love my cooking!"

"Never!" He laughed, grabbing her hands and pushing her onto her back, hovering above her.

"Hey!" She tried to pull out of his hold. "You're so dead!"

She got her hands free and tickled his ribs, causing him to drop down fully onto her. "Shhh, you'll wake Jessica!"

"Then stop talking!" She put both hands behind his head and pulled him down for a kiss.

"Should we be doing this here?" Marshall questioned between kisses when she pulled his t-shirt over his head.

"You're still talking…" She threw the shirt across the room and kissed him again but then shoved him back again. "What was that?"

"What?"

"Quick! Hide!"

"What? Why?" He had to grab onto the back of the couch to stop him from falling to the floor.

"Jessica is awake!" She hissed, standing up and tried to smooth down her clothes.

"Are you kidding me?" His eyes widened. "Where's my shirt!"

"Does not matter now!" She glared at him. "Hide!"

"It's early; she won't question me being here!" He shot back, glancing around.

"No but once she sees you, she won't want to go back to sleep!" She replied. "And I know she's my daughter and I love her more than life itself but I'm not sharing you tonight!"

Marshall grinned at the thought of her wanting him to herself but before he could comment, she pushed him again and this time he did end up on the floor, between the couch and coffee table.

"Mom?" Jessica appeared.

"Hey, what are you doing up?" Mary asked, moving across the room to stop her entering the living room.

"I heard Uncle Marshall…" She rubbed her sleepy eyes.

"Uncle Marshall went home." Mary told her. "You must have been dreaming."

"Nu-huh." She shook her head. "I heard him."

"Well, can you see him?" Mary stepped aside and prayed that Marshall would stay out of sight.

"No…" Jessica frowned at the empty room.

"Come on, why you don't you go back to bed and I'll bring you a glass of milk." Mary gently turned her in the direction of her room.

"Are you sure, Uncle Marshall isn't here?" Jessica looked up at her.

"Why would he be here this late?"

"I don't know." She took once more glance before sighing and heading back bed.

On her way back from the kitchen, with a glass of milk in her hand, she looked over at the couch and found Marshall still lead on the floor.

"You can get up now." She couldn't help but laugh a little.

"I think you gave me a concussion." He rubbed his head.

"Oh stop moaning." She rolled her eyes. "Pour us some more wine…I'll be right back."

It was twenty minutes before Mary dropped down on the couch, beside him again. "Why have you put your t-shirt back on?"

"Because I felt like an idiot sat here alone with no shirt on."

"Take it off."

"You take yours off!" He shot back.

She shrugged and pulled it off in one quick movement. She smirked at the look on his face. "So, you want to finish that wine now?"

"Not so much, no…" He replied pulling her in for another kiss.

"Come on…" She mumbled between kisses, standing up and walking backwards towards her bedroom, trusting him not to let her trip.

"Why did we wait so long?" He questioned as they fell onto the bed.

"You…" She moved her lips down to his neck. "You're the reason we waited…"

"Oh yeah…" He groaned. "I may have been wrong…"

"Yes…" She agreed, tugging on his shirt again.

They both froze when they heard a door opening.

"No, no, no…" Mary's head fell back against the pillow.

"What is she doing?" Marshall whispered, listening closely to anymore noise.

"Maybe she'll go back to bed…"

"And if she comes in here?"

"Fine! I'll go check on her…" She pushed him off her and grabbed a tank top to pull on.

Marshall followed her to the bedroom, leaving it open just a crack so he could hear what was going on.

"Jessica? What are you doing up again?"

"I had a bad dream…" She hiccupped.

A wave of guilt washed over Mary when her daughter turned around and she saw the tears in her eyes.

"Why didn't you come into my room?" Mary asked, crouching down in front of her, brushing the tears away and then noticed the phone in her hand. "Who are you calling?"

"Uncle Marshall." She answered.

"What? Why?"

"In my dream he went away forever…" She explained. "I wanted to talk to him but he's not answering his phone…."

"Well, maybe he's not in."

"Oh…" She thought for a moment and then started dialing again.

"What are you doing?" Mary frowned.

"Calling his cell phone."

Marshall quickly patted his pockets, trying to find his phone but he didn't have it on him.

Mary glanced nervously towards the bedroom and then reached for the phone. "Why don't we have some hot chocolate and then I'll read you another story…"

"I want to talk to Uncle Marshall…" She replied, moving the phone to her ear.

"Jessica…" Mary started but stopped when she heard Marshall's ringtone coming from the couch.

"Oh no!" Jessica gasped. "Uncle Marshall left his phone here."

May sighed and rubbed her eyes. "Okay, well you'll have to wait till morning to talk to him….How about that hot chocolate?"

"And cookies?"

"Why not?" Mary stood up, willing to do anything to get Jessica back to bed.

An hour and two stories later, Mary re-entered her bedroom. "Marshall?"

When she got no response, she sat beside him on the bed and put a hand on his bareback. "Marshall?"

He mumbled something and snuggled deeper into the pillow but did not wake up.

"Oh great!" Mary threw her hand in the air. "Just great!"

She sighed loudly and glared down at him but softened a little at the peaceful look on his face.

"Fine, I guess we're just sleeping tonight…." She muttered and settled down beside him. "Again."

He mumbled once more and threw his arm across her, pulling her closer to him.

_**xXxXx**_

"Can't believe you woke me up at 6am…" Marshall yawned as he followed Mary into the kitchen.

"I can't believe you fell asleep on me last night." She glanced back at him. "And if I remember correctly, you promised me sex and pancakes…"

"Well, we've taken care of the sex part…" He commented, wrapping his arms around her waist and kissed her shoulder.

She smiled and leaned back against him, tilting her head to the side. "Now for the pancakes."

"I think it was Jessica I promised pancakes for…." He turned her around, placing his hands on her hips. "And she's not awake yet…"

"I wonder what we should until she is…" Stepped even closer to him so she could lean up and touch his lips with hers.

He tightened his hold on her. "What time does she get up?"

Mary glanced at the clock and saw it was already 7:30, which meant Jessica had over slept.

"Any minute now…." She pushed him away and in the direction towards the kitchen. "So get cooking."

"Next time we're doing this at my place where there's no time line!" He shot her a fake pained look.

"Next time we're doing this at your place where you can cook naked!"

Marshall laughed out loud as she jumped to sit on the counter watching him pull out the right ingredients.

"Uncle Marshall?" Jessica appeared in the doorway, rubbing her eyes.

"Morning Princess." He grinned at her.

"Why are you here so early?" She questioned.

"Well, your Mom called me and told me about your nightmare and how you wanted to speak to me last night." He crossed the room and picked her up. "I'm sorry I left my phone here."

"It's okay." She shrugged. "Mom made me hot chocolate and read three stories!"

"Wow! Three stories?" He repeated. "That must have taken her a long time!"

"Uh-huh." She nodded.

"I don't know if I can top that but how about I make us all some pancakes for breakfast?"

"With chocolate chips?"

"Of course."

Mary watched them silently with a smile of her face. She never got tired of watching the two of them together. Before she had Jessica, she never understood the women that went all gooey when they saw a man with babies or children but now she could.

"Why don't you sit with Mom?" He placed her on the counter next to Mary.

Jessica giggled when he kissed her cheek and then Mary's before getting back to work.

. She shook her head slightly and rolled her eyes when he looked over at her and winked but she could not stop grinning.

Yep, she was completely head over heels in love with her crazy, brilliant, geek of a best friend.

**TBC**

**Please review! **


	8. Chapter 8

**Hey, thank you to everyone who reviewed and added this story to their favorite and alert list. **

**This chapter is slightly late… but just imagine and December and Christmas time. **

**Please review and let me know what you think! **

**Enjoy! **

**Two Marshals and a baby**

"Why can't I stay up and wait?" Jessica whined as Mary tucked her into bed.

"Because if you don't, then Santa won't come."

"But why?"

"I don't know, that's just how it works." Mary sighed. "You go to sleep and when you wake up there will be presents under the tree."

"But I want to see him!" Jessica replied. "Why aren't I allowed to see him?"

"Why don't you ask Uncle Marshall in the morning?" Mary suggested. She had discovered a long time ago she could defer any of Jessica's questions by telling her to talk to Marshall.

"Okay." Jessica reluctantly gave in. "Where is Uncle Marshall?"

"He's at his house."

"Is he going to be here in the morning?"

"Has he ever missed Christmas day with us?"

"No."

"He'll be here in the morning." Mary assured her. "Now, the sooner you go to the sleep, the sooner you can open your presents."

"Okay…" She yawned.

Mary agreed on two stories because it was Christmas Eve but Jessica was asleep before she finished the first one.

She looked at her watch as she quietly closed Jessica's bedroom door. It was only 8:25pm, she knew Marshall was working late and wasn't even sure if he would be coming by tonight.

"She asleep?" Jinx asked, from the kitchen table, doing some last minute wrapping.

"Yep, right out."

A pipe had burst in Jinx's apartment, flooding it so she was staying with Mary until it was fixed. That was the reason why she wasn't sure if Marshall would be stopping by or not. It had been difficult for the two of them to spend time together for the past week since Jinx had moved back in. Even though their relationship was still a secret, they had settled into their own routine. The three of them would eat dinner together before Jessica went to bed then her and Marshall would spend the rest of the evening alone.

She couldn't help but think back to her relationship with Raphael, she had never been content to do the couple thing but it came easy with Marshall. They weren't lovey-dovey very often and they're teasing banter had hardly changed but she found when she wasn't with him, she missed him. It had been four weeks since he first stayed over, ten weeks since they started a relationship but it felt like they had been together a lot longer.

"Is everything ready for tomorrow?" Jinx questioned, breaking her train of thought.

"Yeah, Marshall is bringing all Jessica's gifts over with him tomorrow." Mary sat down.

"He's such a nice boy." Jinx sighed softly. "I'm surprised he's still single."

"He doesn't have a lot of free time…" Mary replied, looking away.

"Well, there is a girl in one of my dance classes, whose Mother is single….I think Marshall would get along really well with her."

"Mom, you're not setting Marshall up on a date!"

"Why not?" She questioned. "He's a handsome man and happens to be very intelligent, kind and caring….Besides, he's great with kids…Look how he is with Jessica."

"He's not interested in dating anyone."

"I'll talk to him about it tomorrow." She started clearing up the gift wrap. "And it wouldn't hurt for you to go on a date, every now and then…"

"I'm not interested in dating anyone either."

"Fine, just trying to help." She held up her hands. "Well, I'm off to bed…Goodnight."

"Night…" Mary let her head drop down on top of her arms which were folded on top of the table.

Part of her liked keeping her relationship with Marshall a secret because it was something just the two of them could enjoy before other people started interfering but she was about ready for everyone to know so they could stop sneaking around. She did not want to keep finding excuses just so they could spend some alone time together.

She moved around the kitchen and started to clean up. She thought that Jessica made a lot of mess but it was nothing compared to what her Mother made. For the past week, all Mary seemed to do was clear up after her. She had forgotten what a nightmare Jinx was to live with.

She grinned when she heard keys in the door but when Marshall appeared wearing a Santa suit and holding a bag of Jessica's presents, she just stared at him.

"Oh good god."

"Ho, ho, ho…"

Mary shook her head. "You're insane, you know that?"

"It's Christmas!" He grinned at her. "Is Jessica still awake?"

"No."

"Damn."

"You didn't think this plan through."

He shrugged a little. "I wanted to cheer up the Potters' kids…they miss their friends back home."

"You're such a soft touch."

He placed the bag down and crossed the room to her, wrapping his arms around her. "You know you love that side of me…"

"That's doesn't really sound like me…" She put her own arms around his neck.

"It is because if I'm the good cop, it means you can be the bad cop."

"I do like to play the bad cop." She pulled down his beard.

"And you do it so well…"

"I do, don't I?" She tilted her head to the side slightly, thoughtfully.

He laughed and pulled her as close to him as the padding in the suit would allow him. "Very well."

She placed a hand behind his head and pulled him down for a kiss, moaning softly when he deepened it. After a few seconds, he broke away with a couple of smaller kisses before stepping back.

"You're distracting me from doing my job." He commented.

"That is part of your job." She shot back.

He rolled his eyes and grabbed the bag he had brought in with him. "My job at delivering presents."

"You know you're not really Santa, right?" She followed him and sat down on the couch, watching him kneeling by the tree to lay out the gifts. Despite how long she had known Marshall, it still amazed sometimes how great he really was. When she had decided to keep Jessica and raise her alone, she knew Marshall would be around to help but it surprised her how much a natural father he was to her.

"You know what I'm thinking?" She picked up one of the cookies Jessica had left out for Santa.

"Something that will put you on the naughty list permanently?"

"No…Well, yes…" She shrugged, reaching for another cookie. "But also I think we should tell everyone about us."

He glanced over at her. "You sure?"

"Yes, we both know we're in this for the long haul and I'm sick of all the sneaking around, trying to find excuses to spend some time with you…" She answered. "You spend most of the time here anyway, you should make official and just sell your house."

He crawled over to the couch to her. "Are you asking me to move in with you, Inspector Shannon?"

"More like telling you…"

"You know, this is going to change things, right?" He questioned, kneeling up in front of her. "Our relationship…mines with Jessica's and her relationship with Mark."

"Look, plenty of kids grow up with step-parents and turn out okay." She replied. "You're pretty much raising her anyway and she loves you…I think, it'll be great for all us to be together."

"And Mark?" Marshall asked. "You know, he already feels threatened by me."

"That's his problem."

"Mare…" Marshall sighed.

"He had his chance to be a full time Dad but he chooses to live in New Jersey and only comes here when its convenient for him…He doesn't even try to understand or cares why Jessica doesn't want to go visit him there." Mary ranted. "It's Christmas Eve and he's yet to mention his plans on to see her over the holidays… The reason he feels threatened by you is because he knows you're a better Dad to her then he could ever be."

"I just don't want anyone to end up resenting me…"

"If I could change things and make Jessica yours then I would in a heartbeat and you mean the world to her…." She assured him. "I know she enjoys seeing Mark but if she goes just one day without seeing you, she's goes to bed sad."

"You know I love her like she's mine, don't you?"

"I do." She placed her arms around his neck. "Now, are you finished playing Santa?"

"Presents are under the tree and the cookies are eaten." He replied, glancing down at the empty plate. "Although I didn't get one…"

"I saved you the milk."

"Gee, thanks."

"Shut up and get into the bedroom before you wake Jessica and my Mother up."

"I thought you wanted people to know…" He stood up, pulling her with him.

"I do but I want people to know that I'm dating a badass lawman…not Santa Claus."

"Yeah, plus Santa's a married man…I don't think I could handle you and another woman."

"About that…if my mother tries to set you up with anyone just tell her to go away." She warned him as lead him to the bedroom.

"Huh?"

_**XxXxX**_

"You do realize, when you move in you're going to be the full time chef, right?" Mary commented, leaning against the counter, watching him grill bacon.

"You do realize that I already am?" He shot back.

"Yeah but you'll be living here…It'll be official." She sipped her coffee and glanced at the clock and saw it was coming up 8am. "I can't believe Jessica wasn't up at the crack of dawn."

"I'm not going to miss that…"

"What?"

"Having to get up early so I can pretend that I came over just for breakfast." He replied.

"Same here."

"So, how do you want to do this?" He glanced at her quickly before turning his attention back to the food. "Tell everyone all together? One at a time? Make out at the dinner table?"

"That last one sounds fun…" She smirked. "But how about we get Christmas over with then sit down with Jessica to explain it all…then we can tell everyone else."

"Sounds good." He nodded in agreement.

"This means another day of it being just our little secret." She placed her coffee down and wrapped her arms around his waist from behind and kissed the back of his neck.

"Stop that or one of us will get burnt." He admonished but turned around and cupped her cheek before kissing her softly.

They both sprung apart when they heard a door opening. Marshall returned to cooking while Mary poured them both another coffee.

"Merry Christmas." Jinx sang as she entered the kitchen but stopped when she saw them both. "Marshall, you're here early…"

"My Christmas present to Mary…" He explained. "I promised to do all the cooking today and apparently that means breakfast too."

"Hey, you offered…" Mary cut in. "Christmas Day food includes breakfast, lunch and dinner."

"I'm doing it, aren't I?"

"Would be nice if you did without bitching about it…"

"Where's Jessica?" Jinx asked, used to their conversations.

"Still asleep…I can't believe it." Mary glanced at her daughter's closed bedroom door.

"She must have exhausted herself yesterday, helping get everything ready."

"Can you go check on her for me?" Mary asked.

"Of course." Jinx grinned.

"My Christmas present is you doing all the cooking?" Mary questioned when Jinx had left the room. "I thought you gave me, my Christmas present last night and this morning…twice."

He rolled his eyes. "It's because you say things like that, why you're not the naughty list."

"You love it."

"I do."

"Look, who's awake!" Jinx announced as she re-entered the room with a sleepy Jessica.

"Hey, Merry Christmas!" Mary grinned at her daughter.

Jessica didn't reply and instead pull away from Jinx. "Uncle Marshall!"

Marshall turned in time to catch up and lift her up into his arms. "Merry Christmas, Princess."

"Merry Christmas." She whispered, laying her head on his shoulder.

"You tired?" He glanced over at Mary, who was watching them closely.

"No."

"Hungry?" He asked. "I made breakfast?"

"Pancakes?"

"Of course…we got chocolate chip pancakes…blueberry pancakes…we got bacon, eggs, toast, waffles…."

"Wow!"

Marshall laughed and placed her back on her feet. "Go sit down so I can get finished."

Brandi arrived just as Marshall was placing the last of the breakfast on the table.

"This looks great." Brandi commented sitting down. "If you ever want to give me a gift, Marshall then you can come cook for me anytime."

"You should visit here more often…" Jinx replied. "He's always making dinner."

Marshall glanced at Mary quickly as he took his seat. "Someone has to save Jessica from Mary's cooking."

"Hey, just because it's Christmas, doesn't mean I won't hurt you." Mary pointed a fork in his direction.

When everyone had finished eating, Marshall followed Mary into the kitchen with the empty dishes.

"Did something happen between you and Jessica, yesterday?" Marshall asked quietly.

"You noticed something too, huh?" Mary frowned a little; her daughter had barely spoken to her during breakfast. "I don't know what it is…She was fine last night….excited about Christmas."

"You think she's coming down with something?"

"I don't know, she doesn't look sick." Mary shrugged. "Maybe Jinx is right and she's just tired."

"Yeah, she'll probably perk up once she starts opening presents."

"Well, let's get back out there before they open them all without us." Mary dumped the plates in the sink just as the doorbell rang.

"That'll be Stan…He said he was going to stop by for an hour or so." Marshall commented as he headed for the hallway.

"Merry Christmas, Inspector." Stan greeted when Marshall opened the door.

"Hey come on in…" Marshall stepped aside. "Are you hungry? We got quite a bit of breakfast left over."

"No, I won't be stopping long…Just wanted to bring these over the kid." Stan held up two brightly wrapped gifts.

"Follow me."

When they entered the living, they found Jinx and Brandi kneeling by the tree and Jessica sat on the couch with her arms folded with Mary beside her.

"What's going on?" Marshall frowned looking at Mary, who looked just as confused as him.

"She doesn't want to open any presents." Mary told him.

"What?" He sat down on the couch next to Mary. "What's going on, Princess?"

"I don't want any stupid presents!"

"But Santa brought them especially for you." Jinx said helpfully.

"I hate him!"

"Jessica…" Mary stared at her in surprise.

"You don't mean that." Marshall said.

"I do!" She claimed. "He's stupid!"

"What's brought this on?" Mary put a hand on her arm but she shrugged away and stood up.

"I saw you kissing him last night!" She glared at her.

Brandi choked on the soda she had been drinking, spraying cola on the floor.

"What?" Marshall questioned his eyes widened.

"I saw Mom kissing Santa last night!" She repeated.

"You must have been dreaming…" Mary said.

"No, I saw you!"

"Uh, maybe she was giving him a thank you kiss…for bringing everyone so many presents." Marshall suggested, weakly.

"Nu-huh! It was a proper kiss like the kisses the people do in Aunt Brandi's soap operas…"

"Uh…well…" Marshall stuttered, looking at Mary who was just as stunned as him.

"I hate Santa…I hate Christmas!" Jessica announce before running out the room. "And I don't want to move to the North Pole!"

There was silence for a few seconds after the sound of Jessica's door slamming shut before Mary turned to Marshall and hit him around the head.

"Ow! What the hell?" He glared at her, leaning away from her.

"You had to come around dressed as Santa!" She whispered. "This is all your fault!"

"You kissed me!" He hissed back.

"Because I was tired and missed you this week…then you turn up being all sweet and my emotions got the better of me…" She threw her hand up in the air. "I never used to be like this!"

"You're complaining because I was being sweet?" He asked and then glanced towards Jessica's room. "What are we going to tell her?"

"The truth…"

"And when she asks why it was me dressed as Santa and not the real Santa?" He questioned. "She's too young to know he doesn't exist, Mare…"

"Well, what do you suggest…"

"Um, guys?" Brandi interrupted.

They both looked up, for a moment they had forgotten the others were there. Stan looked uncomfortable, while Jinx looked confused and Brandi just had a huge grin on her face.

"Santa? Really?" She teased.

Mary rolled her eyes and stood, grabbing Marshall's hand and pull him with her. "Come on…"

Marshall sighed and just followed her, his fingers still linked with hers.

"I don't understand…." Jinx looked from them to Brandi. "You mean…Mary and Marshall…"

"Come on, you didn't see this coming?"

"I've been here all week….how did I not…?" She started and then gasped. "That's why he's always here early in the morning!"

Brandi collapsed into laughter as realization hit her Mother.

Mary glanced back at Marshall before pushing open Jessica's door. "Hey, can we come in?"

"Go away." Jessica mumbled into her pillow.

"We want to talk to you." Marshall said, as they moved over to the bed.

"I don't want to move to the North Pole…it'll be cold." She sniffed sitting and wiping her eyes.

When they sat down on the bed, Jessica immediately crawled onto Marshall's lap and hugged him tightly.

"No one is moving to the North Pole." Mary assured her.

"Bethany at school says people only kiss like that when they love each other and want to get married."

"Well, that is kind of true…" Marshall replied.

"Mom loves Santa which means we have to move to the North Pole to live with him and I won't see you anymore…"

"Jessica…It was me." Marshall cut in.

"Huh?"

"It was your Uncle Marshall that I was kissing." Mary added softly.

Jessica stared at her before slowly looking at Marshall. "You're Santa Claus?"

Marshall couldn't help but laugh lightly. "No…I was just dressed as Santa."

"Why?" She frowned.

"Because I wanted to surprise you but you were already in bed."

"But why didn't the real Santa come here?" She asked. "Is he mad at us?"

"No but he's really busy on Christmas Eve and sometimes he lets people….like Uncle Marshall dress like him so children get to see him." Mary explained.

"Oh…" She replied, looking at her. "Why were you kissing Uncle Marshall?"

"Because….I love him."

"Love, love him?" Jessica questioned.

"Depends what you mean by love, love him…." Mary started.

"Like Romeo and Juliet love or love like you love Aunt Brandi?" Jessica explained.

"Romeo and Juliet love?" Mary repeated and then looked at Marshall. "Have you been reading her Shakespeare again? She's five, Marshall!"

"Mom!" Jessica whined.

"Alright, fine…yes…We love each other like Romeo and Juliet…" She admitted.

"And if it's okay with you…I'm going to live here too." Marshall added.

"Do you want to share my bedroom?" She asked, excitedly.

"Thank you but no, I'm going to share with your Mom."

"But there's only one bed."

"I'm sure we'll cope." Marshall replied, looking over at Mary and couldn't help but smile.

"So, are you okay now?" Mary asked. "Are you happy about all this?"

"Are you going to get married too?"

"Maybe…" Marshall started but was cut off by Mary.

"Yes."

"Awesome!" Jessica jumped down to the floor and ran out the room. "Aunt Brandi! My birthday wish came true!"

They both watched her go and then Marshall turned towards Mary. "Yes?"

"Yes." She confirmed.

"Do I get a say in this?"

"What? You're going to say no?"

"No but would have been nice to have been consulted."

"Suck it up, Mann…Things are moving fast here….try and keep up." She grinned and leaned over to kiss him.

"You're just full of surprises today, aren't you…?"

"Eh, it's the Christmas sprite…What can I say?" She shrugged but before she could kiss him again, Jessica returned and grabbed their hands, pulling them off the bed.

"Come on, guys…we got presents to open!"

**TBC **

**Please review and let me know what you think! **


	9. Chapter 9

**Hey, here's the next chapter! I hope you like it! Please review! **

**Enjoy! **

**Two Marshals and a Baby**

"Okay, do you remember the rules?" Marshall asked Jessica, crouching down in front of her.

"Yes." She nodded her head once.

"What are they?"

"No running. No picking anything up and no telling Mom." She recited, ticking off her fingers with each rule.

Marshall smiled widely. "That's my girl."

"Do you remember my rules?"

"Yes." He copied her nodded and pointed to his fingers as he spoke. "It has to be something pretty, sparkly and expensive."

"Right." She wrapped her arms around his neck. "That's my Uncle Marshall."

Marshall laughed and stood up with her in his arms. "Okay then, let's go."

As soon as they entered the shop, they were approached. "Hello, may I help you today?"

Before Marshall could answer, Jessica turned in his arms slightly to look at the older man.

"We need to buy an engagement ring for my Mom." She told him.

"Ah, well you came to the right place." He grinned, gesturing for them to follow him over to a glass case where he kept the rings. "Was there anything in particular you were looking for?"

"Something pretty, sparkly and expensive." Jessica answered again before Marshall could.

The jeweler laughed. "Well, let's see what we can find."

Marshall placed Jessica down on the ground when a tray of rings was placed on top of the glass.

"Wow." Jessica's eyes widened.

"They're pretty cool, right?" Marshall said, looking over them but he knew Mary wouldn't like any of them.

"Uncle Marshall!" Jessica gasped and pointed to one that was still in the case. "That one!"

"I'll get it out for you." The jeweler was reaching into the case before Marshall could say anything. As soon as he pulled it out, he knew Mary would absolutely hate it but listened as the older man told them about it.

"It's a stunning radiant cut pink sapphire in the center with round cut diamonds on the side….the metal is 15k white gold and the retail appraisal value is $3.350."

"It's so pretty, Uncle Marshall."

"It is nice." Marshall looked down at her. "But I don't think Mom will like it."

"Why not?"

"Well, for a start it's pink…"

"Oh yeah….Mom hates pink."

"Right." Marshall gave her small smile before turning back to the jeweler. "What I'm looking for is something a bit smaller and simple…something not quite so….girly."

"But Mom is a girl!" Jessica protested.

The older man shook his head and chuckled. "I think I got a few you might be interested in...I'll be right back."

"Thank you." Marshall said before he disappeared into the back and when looked down he saw Jessica with her arms folded. "Jessie, you know your Mom wouldn't wear something too girly."

"But you're getting married…She needs to act like a princess."

Marshall laughed slightly; he would have to remember to tell Mary that. He crouched down to her height again. "The ring will still be pretty and sparkly but it doesn't mean it has to be pink or really big."

Jessica sighed. "Okay."

"Here we go…" The jeweler returned with another tray and placed it in front of Marshall.

"Can I see that one?" He pointed to one with three diamonds.

"This is 18ct white gold with three, princess cut diamonds forming the center-piece flanked by shimmering channel set diamonds." He carefully picked it up and handed it to Marshall.

Marshall gently ran his finger over it; it was perfect. He knelt down again so Jessica could see. "What do you think?"

"It is pretty." She agreed.

"And sparkly." Marshall added, letting the light bounce off of it.

Jessica looked up at the jeweler. "Is it expensive?"

"It'll cost you $4, 800." He answered.

"We'll take it." She replied with a nod.

Marshall almost choked at the price but handed the ring back to him. "She's the boss."

"I'll just get you a box for it then price it up."

"So, you think Mom will like it?" Marshall asked Jessica.

"Yep." She grinned. "Can we ask her tonight?"

"I think that might be a good idea." Marshall replied. He didn't want to leave it too long and the surprise being spoilt with Jessica getting overexcited.

It had been three month since Christmas when Mary announced to Jessica that they would get married but they had been so busy with him moving in and then with work that they had not really talked about it since. Marshall wanted to make it officially by getting her a ring and doing a real proposal.

He picked Jessica up again and kissed her cheek before handing over his credit card. "Remember the rules…Don't tell Mom."

"I know, I know." She rolled her eyes.

_**XxXxX**_

Mary had left for work early that morning before either Marshall or Jessica was awake. Since it was a Saturday and Marshall had the day off, she had let him sleep in. She had a tone of paperwork to finish and a few witnesses to catch up with so her day was pretty full but she decided to go home for some lunch. She was surprised when she got there to find the house was empty. Marshall hadn't mentioned he was taking Jessica out anywhere but within 10 minutes of being home the door opened.

"Hey, where have you guys been?" She asked, smiling when she saw Marshall giving Jessica a piggy back ride and that they both had their matching sunglasses on.

"We went shopping." Jessica said excited. "Guess what we brought?"

"Well, I see no bags…so it has to be something small…"

"Uncle Marshall brought…" She started but remembered it was meant to be a secret when Marshall looked at her as he placed her on the floor.

"Uncle Marshall brought what?" Mary prompted.

"Umm…Ice cream!"

"Ice cream?" Mary repeated, looking over at her partner, folding her arms.

Marshall rolled his eyes, he was in trouble now. "It was a treat."

"Before lunch?"

He walked over to her and gave her a quick kiss as Jessica ran off to her bedroom. "It'll never happen again."

"It better not." She replied, in a mock stern voice. She knew Marshall was normally stricter then her when it came to Jessica eating junk food.

"What you doing here, anyway?" He asked. "Thought you were catching up with work today while the office was quiet?"

"I am but I come back for some lunch." She replied, glancing around to make sure her daughter wasn't around before leaning up to kiss him.

"Hmm, I missed you this morning." He put his arms around her.

"And I thought I was doing you a favor by letting you sleep in." Her arms went around his neck.

"I appreciate the thought…" He pulled her closer and kissed her again.

"Ew, gross."

They broke apart when they heard Jessica and saw her stood in the doorway. Marshall laughed slightly and walked into the kitchen.

"I'll make us some lunch."

"Mom, have you seen my Ken doll?"

Mary hated that her daughter played with doll, especially Ken and Barbie. "It's probably in your room with your other dolls."

"No, I looked but he's not there." She replied.

"Well, can you play with one of the others?"

"He's my only boy doll."

"Right…" Mary replied. "And you need a boy doll because…?"

"You can't have a wedding without the groom." Jessica stated as if the answer was obvious.

Mary glanced back to the kitchen when she heard Marshall drop some stuff before looking down at Jessica again. "Okay, well when did you last play with it?"

Jessica's face crunched up as she thought hard about the question. She must have remembered because she suddenly ran off without another word. Mary shook her head before turning and heading into the kitchen.

"What's with all the noise?" She questioned.

He shrugged and tried to look innocent. "I just knocked over some pans."

"Uh-huh." She replied giving him a cautious look…She had a feeling he was up to something.

Marshall turned away, trying not look at her. Part of him wanted to ask her there and then and get it over with but he had promised Jessica they would make it special and do it together. He couldn't help but worry that the little girl would slip up and let the secret out.

Thankfully, Jessica had stayed in her room until lunch was ready and Marshall made sure to steer the conversation away from anything remotely about wedding or rings. He was actually relieved when Mary headed back to work, at least he could relax for a little while.

He checked on Jessica and found she had gone back to playing with her dolls. He stood and watched her from the doorway for a few minutes with a smile on his face. There were days when he still couldn't believe how his life turned out but he would not trade it for anything in the world.

He walked to the couch and pulled out the ring box, flipping it up as he sat down. He grinned even wider when he looked at the rock. Although there were more diamonds on this ring then the one Raphael had given her, it was smaller and flatter. He remembered how much the chunky ring had annoyed her and kept getting caught on thing.

He snapped the box shut and placed it on the coffee table before pulling out his cell phone. The plan was that Jessica would be there with him when he asked Mary but he was hoping that Brandi would then take her for the night so they could celebrate alone.

After calling Brandi and arrange for her to pick Jessica up; making sure not to tell her the reason why because she was worse than Jessica at keep secrets from Mary, he then set about preparing the lasagna he and Mary would eat later.

Once he was done, he realized an hour had past and he had not heard a peep out of Jessica. She had come in for a Popsicle earlier but he had not seen her since.

Frowning a little, he went to find her…It wasn't like her to be so quiet. Her bedroom was empty but he discovered her in the living room, looking under the couch.

"Hey, there you are." He said as he entered the room. "I'm just about to make a cheesecake…You want to help me?"

She jumped at the sound of his voice and shook her head quickly.

"What's up?" He asked, she normally loved helping him in the kitchen. "Jessica?"

When she looked up at him, he saw there were tears in eyes and her bottom lip was quivering.

"What's wrong?" He asked softly, knelling down in front of her. "Did you hurt yourself?"

She shook her head, immediately falling into his arms and sobbed.

"Hey, come on…" He rubbed her back soothingly. "I can't help if I don't know…"

"I lost it." She hiccupped. "I promise I was being really careful but I can't find it."

"It's okay, we'll find it." Marshall pulled back a little to look down at her. "What have you lost?"

"The ring." She admitted quietly and more tears filled her eyes.

"What ring?"

"Mom's ring."

He turned quickly and saw the ring box still on the coffee table. "Look, its here…"

He opened it and his heart sunk when he saw it was empty.

"I'm really, really sorry." Jessica cried.

Marshall sighed, there was no way he could be mad at her when she was this upset. He pulled back into his arms and kissed the top of her head. "Princess, you know you shouldn't play with things that don't belong to you…."

"I know but I needed a ring for Ken and Barbie's wedding." She sniffed. "I didn't mean to lose it."

"I know… its okay…We'll find it." He assured her. "It has to be here somewhere."

"It's not under the couch." She pointed.

"Okay, well let's start in your room and we'll work from there." He stood up, still holding her. She didn't reply and he could feel her tears soaking into his shirt when she led her head on his shoulder. "It'll be like a game I used to play with my Dad when I was little."

She lifted her head to look at him. "You lost a ring too?"

He couldn't help but laugh lightly. "No, but my Dad used to hide things all the time and I would have to find them."

"How?" She asked, rubbing her eyes as he set down on the floor next to her bed.

"By looking for clues and searching everywhere." He answered.

"But I don't see any clues." Jessica looked around the room.

"Well, let's start at the beginning." He suggested. "You got the ring from the box and then what did you do?"

"I came in here because that's where Ken and Barbie were getting married." She pointed to the floor.

Marshall knelt down and moved a few of stuffed animal, which he was assumed where meant to be guests at the wedding but saw no ring. "Okay, then what did you do?"

"The ring was too big for Barbie's finger so I put it in my pocket to keep it safe."

"Okay, turn out your pockets."

"I checked there already, silly." She placed her hands on a hips, something she seen Mary doing. "That's when I knew I lost it."

"Remember we'll looking for clues…We might finding something."

She sighed but did as he asked, reluctantly; it was scary how much she was like Mary sometimes.

"Nothing." She declared.

"Okay, so what did you do after you put the ring in your pocket?" Marshall asked.

An hour and half had past and they were now surrounded by the contents of Jessica's toy box but there was still no ring. They had looked pretty much everywhere, the living, the bathroom, the kitchen…Marshall had even gone through the trashcans but it was as if the ring had disappeared.

"And you're sure you never went outside?" Marshall asked for the third time.

"I'm not allowed to go outside." She answered, shaking her head.

He sighed loudly and started clearing up the toys.

"What do we do now?" Jessica questioned, watching him.

"I don't know, Princess." He replied. "We'll take a break and look again later."

She pouted a little. "Okay."

Marshall didn't know what to say or do next. He could not work out where it could be. Once they had finished putting the toys away, he left Jessica watching a DVD and went into the kitchen.

He sat down and let his head fall down to the table. He should have known that things wouldn't go as smoothly as they were going. He couldn't believe he lost a $4,800 ring only hours after buying it.

He groaned and banged his head on the table a few times when he heard the front door open and Mary calling out that she was home.

"Hey…" She said when she entered the room. "What you doing?"

"Nothing."

"Rough day?" She smirked.

"You have no idea…." His head still on the table.

"Well, let's just order takeout tonight then." She suggested.

It was very rare they did that nowadays but he didn't look like he was in the mood to cook and neither was she.

"I made lasagna." He mumbled.

"Homemade lasagna? My favorite." She pulled open the fridge and grabbed a bottle of water. "If I didn't know better, I'd say you're up to something."

Marshall groaned and started to bang his head again.

"Seriously, what is up with you?" She asked, watching him, confused. "Are you trying to give yourself a concussion?"

"Mom!" Jessica run into the room and threw her arms around her waist.

"Hey." She said, surprised at the greeting.

"Love you, Mom…"

Mary looked down and blinked a few times before looking over at Marshall. "Okay, what happened?"

"Nothing." Marshall mumbled.

"I made Uncle Marshall sad." Jessica explained, quietly.

Mary turned back to her. "What did you do?"

"I lost something important to him." She replied, remembering that it was still a secret.

Mary sighed and walked over to her partner, placing a hand on his back to get his attention. "Marshall?"

"Yeah?" He still didn't sit up.

"What's so important?"

"Nothing."

"Marshall." She reached out to lift his chin and when she did, she saw a bruise already forming on his forehead. "Jesus, you really are trying to give yourself a concussion?"

"Uncle Marshall is hurt?" Jessica crossed the room to take a look.

"It's nothing." Marshall assured them both.

"I'll get you some ice." Mary replied and the second she stepped away from him, he head went back to the table with a thump. "Stop doing that!"

She opened the freezer and reached for an icepack when something caught her eye.

"Marshall?"

"Hmm?"

"What's this?"

He kept his forehead on the table, only turning slightly so he could look but then sat up straight when he saw she was holding the ring.

Jessica slapped her hand to her forehead. "The popsicle!"

Marshall looked to Jessica with his mouth open and then back to Mary who was staring at the ring. He then jumped up and took it from her, examining it to make sure it wasn't damaged.

"Hey!" Mary exclaimed when he grabbed it. "Where did it come from?"

Marshall glanced up at her and realized his plans were ruined. He had not even worked out what he was going to say to her because he spent so much time looking for it.

"Oh screw it." He muttered taking her hand and sitting her down in the chair he had just vacated.

"Marshall?" She questioned, still confused.

"Uncle Marshall said a bad word." Jessica giggled, used to her Mom being the one that cursed.

"Get over here, Princess." Marshall reached out, wrapping an arm around her waist and pulling her to him, causing her to laugh harder.

He got down on one knee and lifted Jessica to sit on his other knee. She leaned back against his chest and reached behind to her arm around his neck to stop her from falling.

"Mary…" He took her hand in his free one. "I love you…"

"And I love you too." Jessica said.

"I love Jessica…"

"And I love Uncle Marshall…"

"I want us to be a proper family…." Marshall continued. "I want you to be my wife…I want to spend the rest of my life and grow old with you….Will you marry me?"

Mary stared at them both, still stunned by what was happening.

"Please?" Jessica added after a few seconds of silence.

"Yes." She finally managed to get out. "Yes, yes…Of course."

Marshall grinned widely and slipped the ring onto her finger then tugged on her hand so he could kiss her.

"Yay!" Jessica cheered, laughing when she got trapped between the two of them.

"I have one question…" Mary said, pulling back slightly. "Why was my ring in the freezer?"

"Because it didn't fit on Barbie's finger and I had a popsicle…" Jessica explained.

Mary looked at Marshall who shook his head a little.

"Don't ask."

"Right."

"Do you like your ring, Mom?" Jessica questioned.

"It's perfect." She held her hand up to examine it.

"I even helped pick it out." She rambled on. "We was going to get you a bigger one but then I reminded Uncle Marshall that you didn't like pink so we chose this one instead...I know it's smaller but it's okay because it's more expensive…"

"Jess, you don't need to tell her all that." Marshall cut in, laughing a little.

"Oh….Did I break one of rules?" She frowned.

"No, Princess…You did good." He kissed her forehead. "Thank you for helping me chose the ring."

"Yeah, I love it." Mary added, kissing her cheek causing to grin widely.

"Why don't you go pack some stuff? Aunt Brandi will be here soon." Marshall suggested.

"Okay…I can't wait to tell her." Jessica ran off to her room.

"So…" Mary started, cupping his cheek gently. "You brought me a ring, made lasagna and you got my sister to babysit for the night…What can I do to thank you?"

"Never ever take that ring off…" He replied. "I cannot take another afternoon looking for it."

Mary laughed and ran her hand up to his forehead, causing him to wince. "I can't believe you lost it."

"I had big plans for this, you know…" He led his head down on her knee and she ran her fingers through his hair. "It was meant to be romantic."

"I think it was pretty great." She replied, leaning down and kissing the top of his head.

He lifted his head and pressed his lips against hers, moaning quietly when she deepened the kiss. Still on his knees, he crawled as close to her as he could get, running his hands down her body to settle on her hips.

She pulled back slightly and smirked at him. "Wait until we get rid of the kid."

Marshall let out a frustrated breath and glanced at his watch. "Why is your sister always let?"

"It's Brandi, what do you expect?" She asked with a shrug.

He pushed himself to stand up, giving her one more kiss as he did. "Thank you, by the way."

"What for?" She questioned, getting to her feet to and putting her arms around his neck.

"For saying yes."

"Well, I pretty much already told you we would get married, at Christmas." She teased.

"Yeah but that doesn't count." He claimed. "This proposal does."

"You really think people will be shocked to hear that I was the one to ask you first?"

"Technically you didn't ask…"

"And who the hell cares who asked who?"

"Hey, after the day I've had I want credit for it." Marshall argued.

"Fine, if you're going to be a baby about it…" She started but he pulled her into another kiss before she could finish.

They broke apart when they heard the door opening and closing.

"Aunt Brandi!" They heard Jessica shout. "Guess what!"

"Hey kiddo…What's going on?"

"Uncle Marshall asked Mom to marry him!"

"Oh my god!" Brandi gasped. "That's huge!"

"Uh-huh! And I got to help buy the ring but then we lost it and Uncle Marshall was sad…then he hurt his head but Mom then found the ring because earlier I had a popsicle so Uncle Marshall got to ask her and she said yes!"

There was a long pause and Mary could picture Brandi's confused face.

"What?"

Mary couldn't help but laugh and glanced up at Marshall to see him rolling his eyes.

"Jess, is your bag packed yet?" He called out to her.

"Oh, I forgot to finish!" She shouted back and they heard her running back to her room.

"You're engaged?" Brandi appeared in the doorway and Mary just held her hand up to confirm it. "Oh my god! Congratulations!"

"Thanks…" Mary started but was cut when her sister pulled them both into a hug. "Okay, Squish, no need to suffocate us."

"This is so great!" Brandi continued to gush. "We need to celebrate…do you have champagne? We should call Mom and tell her to come over…."

"Brandi…"

"Or we could go out for dinner…" She suggested.

"I've already made lasagna…" Marshall managed to get in.

"Oh my god! I love your lasagna!" She stated, pulling out her cell. "I'll call Mom..."

"Brandi." Mary took her phone off her. "Get out."

"You don't want to celebrate?" She questioned, frowning.

"Of course we do…" Marshall said politely. "But…"

"We want to celebrate together…alone." Mary cut in but Brandi still stared at her. "Naked."

"Nak…." She started before realized. "Oh right! Yes!"

"Mary…" Marshall sighed, shooting her a look.

"What? She wasn't getting it."

"Don't worry; we'll be gone in a minute….and I won't bring her back until late tomorrow…" Brandi sniggered and then winked at them.

"Did you just wink?" Mary questioned, looking mildly disgusted. "Don't do that."

"Hey, Jessica…what's taking so long?" Brandi ignored her. "Let's go already!"

"Coming!" Her niece called back before entering the room with her jacket on and her backpack on her back.

"Ready?" Brandi asked.

"Yep." She grinned and then ran over to hug Mary. "Bye Mom."

"Be good…I'll see you tomorrow."

"Okay…." Jessica replied and wrapped her arms around Marshall. "Bye Uncle Marshall….You're the best Uncle ever!"

Marshall just smiled and leaned down to kiss her cheek. "Have a good time."

"Yeah, same goes for you too…." Brandi said with a chuckle.

"Why? What are they going to do?" Jessica asked, worried she was going to miss out on something.

"Nothing, Jess…" Marshall glared at Brandi, who just looked back innocently. "We're just going to eat dinner."

"Oh okay…" She shrugged and then took Brandi's hand. "Bye!"

"Bye."

"Congratulations again." Brandi added as Jessica pulled her towards the door.

"Thanks Squish…" Mary replied.

She waited until she heard the door close behind them before turning back to Marshall.

"So, where were we?" She questioned.

"I think celebrating and naked was mentioned." He answered, pushing her backwards towards the bedroom.

"Oh yeah…" She grinned. "But what about the lasagna?"

"It can wait." He claimed before silencing her with another kiss.

**TBC**

**Okay, so there seems to be a running theme with my fics lately…engagements/weddings …I don't know why but I hope you liked this! Please review!**


	10. Chapter 10

**Hands up who thought I forgot about this fic! So sorry for taken so long to update it! I hope it was worth the wait! Please review!**

**Enjoy!**

**Two Marshals and a Baby**

Marshall looked up from his laptop when he heard a knock on the door; glancing at his watch he guessed it was probably Mark coming to pick up Jessica.

"Jessica, are you ready for your Dad?" He shouted down to her room as he made his way to the front door, pulling it open to reveal Mark. "Hey, come on in…She'll just be a minute."

Mark stepped into the house, following Marshall down to the kitchen. "So, I heard about the engagement…Congratulation."

Marshall smiled. "Thanks."

"Mary not around?"

"She's at work…but should be here when you drop Jessica off, if there was something you needed to talk about…" Marshall told him.

He loved Jessica like she was his daughter and wouldn't change her for the world but whenever Mark was around, he tried to step back a little. He was the lucky one, he got to see Jessica every day and pretty much filled the Dad role…He knew it must be hard for Mark to see.

"No, just wanted to say congratulations to her in person…"

They were saved from the awkward silence by Jessica entering.

"Hi Dad…"

Mark smiled widely. "Hey, you ready to go? I thought we could go to the park and grab some lunch at the burger place you like."

"Cool!"

"I'll have her back about 4…" Mark looked back to Marshall.

"Yeah, no problem." Marshall replied. "Have fun, Princess."

"Bye." She ran and gave him a hug before skipping to the door.

Mark nodded to him before following his daughter and once they were out of sight, Marshall let out a breath he didn't realize he was holding. Mark was a good guy and since the incident a few years ago where he had pushed for Jessica to spend some time in New Jersey with him, he hadn't caused trouble. Although, he sometimes made comments that made Marshall think he wasn't too pleased with the setup. Whenever Mark was around, Marshall was a little on edge, in case he decided to make it an issue. He knew Mary would not react well if he did and he really wanted avoid all of that.

_**XxXxX**_

Mark watched Jessica half heartily swing on the swing set, looking deep in thought.

"Hey, Jessica…We got an hour before you need to be home…You want to get an ice cream?"

"Okay." She jumped off the swing.

He waited until they each had an ice cream cone and was sat on a bench next to the small lake in the park before probing her about her mood.

"Are you feeling okay? You've been quiet today."

"Just thinking…" She shrugged.

"Oh yeah?" He was a little surprised at the statement, making his five your old sound too grown up. "What about?"

"Why don't you live with Mom and me?"

"Um…Well, because I live in New Jersey."

"But all my friends have their Moms and their Dads living with them…" She stated. "If you're my Dad why do you live somewhere else?"

He sighed. "That's just how it is, sweetie…Your mom and I aren't in love…"

"She's loves Uncle Marshall."

"I know." He smiled slightly. "That's why he lives there."

"Does that make him my dad?"

Mark sighed. "In a way, yes it kind of does."

"Uncle Marshall is my dad?" She stared at him.

"Okay, the thing is…You're really lucky because your uncle Marshall is a great guy and he loves you of much..." Mark started, although this conversation was getting harder and harder with each word. "When he and your Mom will get married…He'll be your Step-Dad…"

"My friend Bethany has a step-dad."

"Right, well Uncle Marshall will be yours but nothing much is going to change…"

"Can I start calling him Dad?"

Mark paused and took a deep breath, resisting the urge to tell her no…That he was her father and no one else but deep down he knew that was a lie.

"Do you want to?"

She shrugged. "What would I call you?"

"You would still call me Dad…." He replied. "You'd just have two Dads."

"Huh." She thought about it. "I guess that's pretty cool."

Mark smiled again but this time a little sadly. "Yeah, real cool."

_**XxXxX**_

Once they got back to the house, they were greeted by Mary at the door and Jessica immediately started to fill her in on their day. Mark just stood back, his hands in his pockets and watched them.

"I'm glad you had a good time…" Mary smiled down at her.

"Is uncle Marshall here?"

"Of course….he's in the kitchen…" Before she could finish the sentence, Jessica was gone.

Mary smiled awkwardly at Mark. "So, are you heading back home tonight or…?"

"Yeah, my flight is at six…" He answered, looking down at his watch and was glad he had a little time to spare. "Actually, there was something that I wanted to talk to you about…"

"Oh yeah? What's up?"

"Can we sit?" He gestured to the couch.

"Okay…" Mary said slowly, unsure where it was heading but led him to take a seat.

"Hey, Mark…" Marshall greeted, entering the room. "Are you staying in town tonight? You're welcome to join us for dinner…"

"Thanks for the offer but I've got to get back." He replied.

"There was just something he wanted to talk about." Mary added.

"Oh, I'll leave you to it…"

"Actually, you should stay…" He told him. "You should probably hear this too."

Marshall looked to Mary questionably but she just shrugged, silently telling him, she had no idea what was going on.

"Okay." Marshall sat down beside Mary. "Is everything okay?"

"It's fine…It's just….Jessica, she was asking some questions….I don't know if she's spoken to you about it or not…"

"What sort of questions?" Mary cut in.

"About why I don't live here…" He told her and then looked at Marshall. "And if Marshall is her Dad because he does."

"Mark, I swear to you, we haven't said anything to her about Marshall being…"

"I know, I get it." He interrupted quickly. "She's a kid and she was confused…I'm glad she spoke to me about it."

"What did you tell her?"

"Just that she was lucky because she's got two Dads." He replied and then ran a hand across the back of her neck. "I told her it was okay if she wanted to call you Dad."

Marshall stared at him, not sure what to say and he looked to Mary for help.

"Mark….You didn't have to do that." She told him, although a big part of her was extremely grateful that he did.

"I did." He said softly. "Look, it's no big deal…Nothing is going to change, right?"

"Right." Mary confirmed. "You're still her father…"

"See, it'll be fine."

They all fell silent; all knowing that Mark wasn't completely thrilled about this but he was understanding and willing to let it happen for Jessica's sake.

"Uncle Marshall…" Jessica chose that moment to run into the room, snapping all the adults out of their thoughts. "Come and help me."

Marshall didn't have chance to reply before she grabbed his hand and pulled him to his feet.

"How can I compete with that?" Mark nodded his head in the direction they had just gone. "She adores him."

"Yeah…" Mary agreed, looking at the space they disappeared into before forcing herself to turn her attention back to her ex-husband. "You know Marshall never tried to take your place…"

"Mary, I meant what I said…I get it…I really do." He assured her. "And anyway, it's not like it would have been difficult for him to try to take my place…"

"Mark…"

"I turn up, what? About five times a year…This year, I missed her birthday and was a week late for Christmas." He looked down at his hands. "Marshall is here for her a lot more than I am…It makes sense that she likes him more."

"If it makes you feel better, she likes him more than she likes me to."

He let out a small laugh and looked up at her again. "Do you remember what I said to you at the hospital, after she was born?"

"That you had been terrified that I was serious when I threatened to shoot you?"

"No, not that…About Marshall….About how I was glad he was there for you both."

"Oh…"

"You know I love her, right? That I would do anything for her…But no matter how hard it is for me to admit…Marshall is her Dad…I'm just some guy that turns up and takes her out every now and then."

"You're more than that, Mark…Yes, she has a strong bond with Marshall but she loves you to."

"I know…But I'm still glad that you have him around." He stood up. "I need to get going or I'll miss my flight."

"Okay, right…" Mary got to her feet and called out to the other room. "Jessica, come say goodbye to your Dad."

She come running back into the room with Marshall following. Automatically hugging Mark and kissing his cheek. "Bye Dad."

As soon as he set her back on her feet, she was gone again.

"I'll call you about when I'll next be in town." Mark turned to Mary.

"Sure."

"See you, Marshall…" Mark looked at him and held out his hand.

Marshall took it, locking eyes with the other man; knowing it was gesture of no hard feelings.

_**XxXxX**_

After dinner, Marshall had got a phone call from Stan, needing his advice on a tricky witness transfer so he headed to the office for a couple hours. When he returned him, he was just in time to watch Mary finishing putting Jessica to bed.

"Hey…" He whispered, entering the room and they both turned to look at him. "Did I miss story time?"

"Just finished." Mary smiled at him, moving over a little so he could sit on the bed too.

"Did Mom tell you a good story?" Marshall asked.

"Uh-huh."

"Did she tell it better than me?"

"No."

"Hey!" Mary complained.

"I do voices." Marshall grinned at her.

"Whatever, nerd boy." She gave him a light push, causing Jessica to giggle and him to poke his tongue out at her. She leaned down and kissed her daughter's forehead. "Sweet dreams…Love you."

"Love you, Mom."

"Goodnight, Princess." Marshall kissed her to. "Love you."

"Goodnight…" Jessica mumbled around a yawn, her eyes slowly closing.

Marshall check her nightlight was on before following Mary to the door, flicking the main light off and they were just about the close door when Jessica spoke again.

"Daddy…" She said with a slight hesitation.

Marshall froze for a second. "Yeah, princess?"

"I love you, Daddy…Goodnight."

Marshall blinked a few times, tears already burning his eyes. "Love you to, Princess…"

Mary grinned at him when they stepped out into the hall but then frowned when she saw the tears.

"Hey, Marshall…" She reached for him, as he closed the door. "They're happy tears, right?"

"Of course…" He told her, quickly wiping a hand over his eyes. "Sorry, I just…"

"It's okay…" She assured him, running a hand up and down his arm.

"Wow…I can't believe how effected I was by that…" He took a deep, shaky breath. "It's been a long day."

"Marshall…" She didn't want him to feel embarrassed for getting emotional.

"I just never thought I'd hear someone call me Daddy…" He admitted, softly looking down. "I was okay with it but…to hear her call me that…"

"I know." She stepped forward and wrapped her arms around him after few second she pulled back and looked at him. "Do you want more kids?"

"What? Mare, I wasn't saying…"

"I know that…but we've never discussed it." She replied. "I never asked you."

"You and Jessica are all I need."

"Marshall, that's not what I asked."

He sighed. "I did always want more than one but honestly, I'm happy…extremely happy with our little family."

"I don't know if I can even have any more children….but this is something we should discuss right?"

"Do you want more kids?" He questioned.

Mary looked from him to her daughter's closed bedroom door. "I think you might be able to convince me."

He couldn't help but smile. He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her tightly to him. "Inspector Shannon, you just keep on surprising me…"

"I like to keep you on your toes, Inspector Mann…" She replied, leaning up to kiss him.

**TBC**

**Okay, I just added the bit about more kids to get your reactions. Mary was 39-ish when Jessica (Norah) was born…so she'd be 44/45 now. Would it be too unrealistic? **

**Please review and let me know what you think! **


	11. Chapter 11

**I got so many reviews for the last chapter so thank you to anyone who took the time! I really appreciate it! I hope this chapter lives up to the response. Please review and let me know what you think! **

**Enjoy!**

**Two Marshals and a Baby**

"Let me do that." Marshall took the dishes out of Mary's hand.

"I'm not an invalid." She rolled her eyes and picked up some dirty plates that had been left on the table.

"I know but you look tired." He replied, reaching for the plates and then setting them down by the sink ready to be washed.

She turned to grabbed some more when she felt his arms circle around her waist and she automatically settled back against him. He rested his chin on her shoulder and placed his hands on her pregnant stomach. With nine weeks left, Marshall knew the pregnancy was taking its toll despite her protest.

"Our families are probably wondering where we are." She commented, although didn't move away. It was the week before Thanksgiving and they were having an early celebration.

"Jessica is keeping them entertained."

"Speaking of which…It's getting late, if she doesn't go to bed soon, she'll be cranky tomorrow."

"Ah and we don't want that." Marshall kissed her cheek before stepping back. "Okay, here's the plan…We get her to bed, get everyone else coffee and then once they've gone, I'll run you a nice hot bubble bath and I'll clean up in here."

"What if I don't want to have a bubble bath alone?" She turned to nice him, this time it was her who looped her arms around his neck and got as close to him as her stomach would allow.

"I don't think we will both fit."

She pulled back to look up at him. "Did you just call me fat?

Marshall opened his mouth but then paused for a second, knowing his response could get him into more trouble.

"If I promise to give you a back and foot rub later, can we drop this conversation?" He offered.

"Deal." She pushed herself up onto tip toes and pressed her lips against his.

He grinned and followed her out of the kitchen to re-join their families. They had decided to try for a baby after their conversation when Jessica started calling Marshall, Dad. After speaking with doctors, they were told it might take a while. Typically, they were different to most people and Mary got pregnant straight away so they decided to postpone their wedding until after the baby was born. They had also been planning on travelling to Phoenix to visit his family over Thanksgiving but that was also cancelled and his parents, brothers and their family visited them instead. Although Mary and Jessica had met his parents a handful of times, they had never met his brothers but so far things were going well and everyone seemed to be having a good time.

They both paused in the doorway and watched the scene in front of them. Four of Marshall's youngest nieces and nephews, Jamie, four, Nicola seven, Lucy eight and Mitchell nine were fast asleep, curled together on couch. While his teenage nephew Justin tapped away on his cell phone, looking bored.

On the other side of the room, Jinx was sat with Marshall's older brother Nathan and his wife Kathy, giving them advice on getting Nicole and Lucy into a dance class. Mary rolled her eyes when she saw Brandi flirting with Marshall's eldest and newly divorced brother, Stephen.

Jessica was squeezed between Marshall's between parents on the second couch, a photo album that they had brought with them open in her lap.

"It's time to say goodnight, Princess." Marshall put an arm around Mary's waist and guided her into the room.

"Noooo…" She whined, looking up at them.

"It's way past your bedtime." Mary added. "You'll see everyone tomorrow."

She crossed her arms and pouted but didn't move. Seth couldn't help but chuckle at her response and reached over to take the album.

"You get to choose who tells you a story…" Mary offered although she already knew the answer.

"Daddy…" She scrambled off the couch and ran towards him.

Marshall still grinned widely at hearing her call him that and lifted her into his arms. "Say goodnight to everyone."

"Good night everyone." Jessica repeated, giving the room a wave making them all laugh lightly.

Marshall tucked her in and looked towards the bookcase, hoping he could get away with readying a short story so he could rejoin everyone else.

"Daddy?"

He looked back to her. "Yeah?"

"Where did the baby came from?"

Marshall froze and his eyes widened slightly. He had not been expecting that question. Since they told Jessica about the baby, she had been excited to have a little brother or sister but didn't ask many questions.

"Well, you're Mom and I talked and we decided that we would like to give you a brother or sister."

"Oh…." Jessica thought about what he said. "So, did you give Mom the baby?"

"Kinda…" Marshall said slowly, really hoping he wouldn't have to go into detail. "Hey, do you want to know a secret?"

"Yeah!" She sat up excitedly.

"You can't tell anyone…And you can't tell Mom I told you." Marshall replied, knowing he would probably get into trouble if Mary found out but he would do anything to stop going into more details about the baby.

"I promise!"

"Okay, do you know what we're doing tomorrow?"

She shook her head, rapidly and was almost bouncing in the bed.

"Well, Mom and I are getting married."

"Married?"

"Yep, we are going to surprise everyone…no one else knows." He whispered.

"Do I get to be bridesmaid?"

"Of course..." Marshall assured her. "We got you a pretty dress to wear."

She squealed and jumped into his lap, hugging him tightly.

He laughed. "Okay, quiet or everyone is going to wonder what is going on."

"Oh." She mimicked zipping up her lips.

"Right, now how about that story?" He suggested, lying her back down.

He ended up reading her two stories because she was too excited to sleep but by time he finished the second, she was out. He kissed her forehead gently and then quietly left the room.

He was surprised to find his father in the kitchen doing the dishes.

"Dad, leave that…I'll do it later." Marshall told him.

"The longer it gets left, the harder it will be to get the food off." Seth commented. "You can dry if you want."

Marshall joined him at the sink to start drying and for a few minutes they worked in silence.

"I'm glad you made it out here…" Marshall said. "It's nice to see everyone."

"It's about time we all spent some time together and you're mother has been bugging me for a weekend away." Seth shrugged it off.

"Well, I know Jessica loves having you guys here."

"She's a sweet girl." Seth commented. "It's nice to hear her call you Dad."

Marshall grinned again. "Yeah, it is…"

"You seem happy."

"I am."

"Thanks, Dad…" Marshall replied, a little bit surprised.

They both feel silent again, not use to having this kind of conversation but it only lasted a few minutes before Seth spoke again.

"Come on, move a little quicker or did you want to spend all night washing these?"

Marshall rolled his eyes but couldn't help but smile still.

_**XxXxX**_

"I can't believe you told her…" Mary grumbled as Marshall and she waited for their family to arrive.

They had arranged to have the ceremony in a private garden and then they would go to their favorite restaurant. They hadn't wanted a big wedding and had only come up with the idea a few weeks ago when they found out Marshall's family were visiting. With the baby and work, they didn't know when they would have time to plan a wedding and didn't want to wait much longer so decided to just go for it. It had been pretty exciting just the two of them knowing.

"Hey, it was either that or tell her about the birds and the bees."

"God, you're such a girl."

"I'd like to see you do better."

"When is everyone getting here?" Jessica turned to them. "I want the wedding to start!"

"They'll be here soon, Princess." Marshall assured her.

Brandi and Jinx arrived first then Marshall's family. They still didn't tell them what they were doing there because they wanted to wait for Stan and Delia.. They had been told they were going to fancy restaurant and they all needed to dress up but they were all confused why they were there and not getting something to eat.

"Sorry we're late…" Stan said as Delia and he joined the group. "You know how work can be…"

"So, are you going to tell us what is going on now?" Nathan questioned, keeping an eye on the younger children chasing each other around.

"Okay, well…We have a surprise." Marshall announced an arm around Mary. "Do you want to tell them?"

"Daddy and Mom are getting married!" Jessica exclaimed before Mary had chance to say anything. "And I'm bridesmaid!"

Everyone exploded with questions, asking when and if they were serious.

"Okay…." Marshall raised his voice to be heard. "Yes, we're serious and yes, we're getting married today…Here"

"Oh my god!" Brandi exclaimed.

"We didn't want to wait." Mary continued. "And we thought we could surprise everyone."

"Oh this is so exciting!" Marshall's mother gasped and hugged them before Jessica pushed her way between them and grabbed her parents' hands.

"Come on….I want to be a bridesmaid!" She stated, pulling them towards the entrance.

_**XxXxX**_

Mary sat, half listening to Stan telling everyone a story about her and Marshall when they first became partner. She had heard it many times and Stan seemed to elaborate more and more each time he told it. She looked toward her partner…her husband and couldn't help but smile as he was adding his own version of story,

She then turned her attention to Jessica who was sat on the next table with the other children but she looked deep in thought. She stood up and walked towards her daughter, sitting in the empty seat next to her.

"Hey…What's going on over here?"

"Nothing…" Jessica shrugged. "Just thinking."

"About what?"

"Daddy said that he gave you the baby…"

"Well, yes…in a way, he did." Mary replied, instantly regretting giving Marshall grief about this earlier now that she was in the same situation.

"Like a gift?"

"Yeah."

"So, where is it now?" Her eyes moved down to the baby bump. "In your stomach?"

"Close enough, yes."

"Hey, how are my girls?" Marshall joined them at the table.

"Daddy…" Jessica turned to him. "Mom ate the baby!"

Mary groaned and Marshall smirked at her. "Told you, it wasn't so easy."

_**XxXxX**_

Nine weeks passed quickly and unlike Jessica's early birth, this baby decided to stay put for another week after the due date but he finally made his arrival at 3:14am on Christmas morning.

"He's so tiny…" Jessica whispered, sat beside Mary on the hospital bed and looking at her little brother.

"You were smaller when you were born." Mary told her, adjusting the blanket so his face wasn't hid.

"Nu-huh!"

"Uh-huh!"

"So, what do you think, Jess?" Marshall asked, sitting on the other of Mary on the bed and put his arm around his wife.

"He's cute." She shrugged. "What is he's name?"

"He hasn't got one yet."

"Oh…Do we have to call me Jesus because he was born on Christmas day?"

Marshall laughed. "No, we don't…"

"Who gets to decide his name?"

"We do." Marshall told her.

"You know, when you were born I asked your Dad to pick your name…" Mary informed her then glanced at her husband. "I think he did a good job."

"Yep!" Jessica grinned in agreement. "He should pick again."

"What do you think?" Mary said to Marshall. "Any ideas?"

"Well, how about Jacob?" Marshall suggested; it had been a name Mary and he discussed and knew that they both liked it.

"He needs two names!" Jessica insisted.

"Jacob Joseph?" He looked to Mary who was watching their son.

"It suits him…" She whispered, running a finger down his cheek.

"Can I call him JJ?" Jessica asked.

Marshall laughed lightly. "If you want."

"Okay…I like it." She announced and leaned down to the baby. "Hi JJ…I'm your big sister, Jessica!"

**TBC**

**Please review! **


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